MICHAEL NOONAN WILL spend the day before Ireland’s sixth austerity budget in Brussels, as part of the group of European finance ministers trying to secure an EU banking union.
Ireland’s Minister is one of 27 hoping to see a deal which will better help the area deal with any future crises. Reaching a deal on supervisory powers will be necessary for the permanent bailout fund, the ESM.
However, Reuters reports it is not all smooth sailing in Belgium as banking union ambitions are under strain, with divisions on how the European Central Bank oversight will work.
The disagreements threaten the plan of putting the ECB in charge of supervising all EU banks. Nations have failed to agree on whether the supervisory role should extend to all banks or just the largest ones across the eurozone. Germany falls down on the latter opinion and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is pessimistic that the framework will be in place by the end of the year, as previously promised.
There are also difficulties in relation to those countries not using the single currency.
It was hoped that a deal would be in place so it could be finalised at an EU summit of leaders on 13 December.
Following the meeting, Noonan returns to Dublin this evening to prepare for tomorrow’s Budget 2013 announcement. He will speak in the Dáil from 2.30pm, delivering much of the taxation side of the budget. He will then be followed by the Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin, who will break down the content of the spending aspects of the document.
Both speeches are likely to last about 40 minutes each.
Already the government has said that the Budget will see an adjustment of €3.5 billion, comprising of €1.25 billion in taxes and charges and a further €2.25 billion in spending cuts.
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