TAOISEACH ENDA KENNY has said he welcomes the planned informal ‘growth summit’ of EU leaders ahead of Ireland’s referendum on the Fiscal Treaty.

The meeting arranged by European Council president Herman van Rompuy will take place on May 23, eight days before the referendum vote.

Discussions are expected to focus on identifying growth policies for the EU as a whole. Several leaders have urged more emphasis on growth, with French president-elect Francois Hollande calling for the Fiscal Treaty itself to be renegotiated in that direction.

Enda Kenny said he had “consistently argued that Europe needs to develop a growth and jobs strategy” alongside austerity measures. He added:

I welcome all statements by other leaders who support Ireland’s view that a growth strategy is an essential ingredient for European economic recovery [as well as] the fact that an informal meeting of the heads of government will take place next week, the main purpose of which will be to intensify our efforts in this area.

Kenny was speaking at a meeting of the British-Irish parliamentary council today. He said that Britain and Ireland had many shared ambitions and called for examination of more co-operation between agencies and businesses either side of the Irish Sea.

The partnering of British and Irish construction firms on the Olympic development in London could be a model for the future, he said, adding: “We will look at ways of replicating that approach across the financial, construction and other professional services sectors.”

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