I’d like clarification on the following please;
1. Who are the people who will be caretakers of the 700 billion, how many people will be in charge, and who is the Irish person ( woman) that will be part of this Bord, and what qualifies them to do so?
2. Is it true that these fiscal custodians will not be answerable to any legal system, and if they are, which law governs them?
3. Why is it that we are not being given to option to wait until France and Germany ratify the treaty first, as they both are clearly waiting for some clarification, and if the wording of the treaty is changed after , and if we ratify it, will the same amendments apply to us?

Fair play to the Journal for addressing people’s questions when we clearly can’t find answers else where!!

1) Define “structural deficit”

2) Provide a definitive explanation as to how exactly it is measured.

I don’t know what a tracker mortgage is.

Pushing politician opinion aside vigorously, what are the main academic based Irish economists suggesting would be the best possible outcome from this vote?

Leaveing all scaremongering aside, What is the goverments contingincie plans in the case of a no vote?

In a country which is currently under a lot of pressure to reduce national debt, how will signing a treaty to reduce deficit impact or limit our economic growth / ability to recover?

By the way, great idea by The Journal staff.

Hi all,
Just wanted to say a quick thanks to everyone who has contributed their questions so far – we’re gathering them all and will try and choose a representative number of them to get answers.
And thanks for understanding what we’re trying to do here – sift the real concerns from the political point-scoring!
Keep them coming,
Susan, Editor, TheJournal.ie

Would the fiscal compact, with its notion of structural deficit, had it been in place when the Euro came into being, have prevented the government excesses of the Celtic Tiger and its aftermath?

One thing I’d love to know is about the structure of the treaty. Is the preamble legally binding, or is it just wishy-washy aspirational stuff. (It’s the preamble that mentions access to ESM funds would only be available to those countries who pass the treaty…)

Since Ireland (and other countries) joined the EU how many years would we (and other countries) of had a structural deficit of below 0.5 and what would the fines to us (and other countries) of been?

Roughly how much money will the State have to repay annually and roughly how much of this will come from increased tax if we vote Yes

What adjustment does François Hollande want to make to this treaty. We have all heard that he wishes to add an article for growth. What is it and what would it involve?

Is it true the esm (bail out fund) has not come into law, and is inly a probosal, so saying if we vote yes will have automatic access to the esm is untrue, as the esm may never happen?

What is the government’s contingency plan to raise funds should the country vote No to the treaty?

Where exactly will our government get the money to contribute to the ESM- not just the first tranche but all of our required contribution and over how long a time period?

Question: What amount in additional cuts will have to be made, given the Department of Finance figures published last month which have now being revised downwards, to bring Ireland in line with the 0.5% structural deficit rule from our expected 3.5%+ structural deficit for 2015? Where is it envisaged those cuts will be made?

How is the government going to reduce GDP to 3% by 2015?

Why have we been threatened with hard budgets in 2013 when nothing is supposed to change until 2015?

Why has our so call leader of the country refused to debate the topic himself on ANY show?

Why are we rushing into this treaty while other countries in the EU look like they may be pullling out altogether?

From what I understand, fiscal rules are already in place within the EU and passing this treaty means these same rules will be strengthened by requiring countries to change their local laws giving the rules legal force. That’s fine, nothing new as such. But what I want to know is – what is NEW in this treaty ? What new rules, regulations, strengths or weaknesses will passing this treaty mean for Ireland ?

And note that I ask for IRELAND. Not necessarily the EU.

Thanks.

Will Ireland be contributing 11bn to the ESM and will we be borrowing that money from the EFSF to do so?

1. What interest rate will the ESM charge?
2. For a country to gain access to the ESM funds do all countries who have provided funds to the ESM have to agree?
3. What are the Constitutional implications of allowing a third party (ESM) direct access to Irish budgetary considerations for ever rather then temporarily as in the current bail out?
4. A figure of €11 billion has been suggested would be Ireland’s maximum input into the ESM. I’ve read or heard else where that the ESM has the power to increase this figure if required. Is this correct?

In the evernt of a Yes vote, could we be forced to give up our 12.5% corporation tax rate in efforts to harmonise the tax rates accross Europe?

There are two types of GDP figures given out regularly, one including and one excluding Multinational Companies where the profits are taken out of the State. There is quite a gap between the two. Which figure does this treaty refer to?

What alternative sources of funding are available to Ireland? And what are the pros and cons of these?

How democratic is the European Parliament? In the event we were to vote yes, how much say would we have over decisions made by EU over what constituted a good reason not to keep to the agreed target of fiscal discipline? Are we even sitting at the ‘Decision Making Table’?

Why do politicians and economists persist in talking about growth as a indicator of success? Surely it was growth which created the bubble that burst? I know there are alternatives to this economic model but what are they. Haven’t politicians and economists a duty to look at and debate these given our present crisis/opportunity? Why are they not looking creatively at this situation rather than doling out the same old, same old?

Thanks for this opportunity!

Hello again,
Thanks to everyone who is continuing to submit questions about the substance of the treaty and about the consequences of voting ‘Yes’ and ‘No’.
As mentioned in the article, we want to keep the comments section on this piece free of debate from either side of the Yes/No campaign, so please help us out with that.
Thanks, Susan, Editor

I’d just like confirmation of one thing. From my, frankly limited knowledge of things. Whether we vote yes or know we are still going to have to balance our budget. Surely we cannot keep spending however many billion it is (€15bn) rings a bell more than we take in. Simple household budget maths that. If we vote yes we get a ‘cheap’ interest loan until we balance the books. If we vote no we have to rely on market rates?

Is that broadly correct?

1) Someone on the @LateDebateRTE said the EU used a law that was intended for disasters to create the ESM. what article was that and what treaty?
2) Can we veto Article 136 of the TFEU?
3) If we pass the Fiscal Compact, does that mean we are allowing Article 136 by proxy?
4) Will the ESM have enough money in a worst case scenario i.e Greece -> Spain -> Italy
5) Is it true to say that the ESM institution will not be legally responsible?
6) If a YES vote, how long after it do you expect the €uro to fail

Exactly how many independent economists/experts are on yes/ no side ???

What are the reasons for the world economy that Greece were not allowed to default,?? Had 70% of their bank debt wrote off?? Can you also please explain how much of the Irish debt is private, how much the state has to pay gambling German bondholders etc ??

i want to know what parts of the treaty were suggested by our negotiators and what they rejected?, id like to know what their (irish government) specific input was?, also i would like to know who suggested and supported esm access based on ratification of the stability treaty?

If we vote No, will the Government resign and, if not, why not?

If we vote yes and are outside the prescribed structural deficit of 0.5%, by law, an automatic process kicks in to address this. What is this process? Is it the same old austerity approach of increased taxes and lower spending, or will it have a growth dimension to improve our economy and thus address the deficit?

This i feel is central to knowing what actually happens if we vote yes or no. Access to future funding is a follow on to if we fail to address our legal obligations to reduce our deficit.

In the event of a No, is there any way in which Ireland could decouple itself from the EMS and recouple with Sterling?

Two questions. One for the yes campaign and one for no. For the YES are we committed to funding the ESM whether we vote yes or no. For the NO campaign exactly where are we going to get funding if we vote NO. The treaty expressly forbids any country not accepting it to have ESM access

Can the yes side (Government) provide us with their actual plan if a No vote is passed.

Surely they MUST have something in place and I think this would be good info for the voting public to have.

Why did the Irish Gov. allow the addition of the blackmail clause to the Treaty?
What advantage if any does it add to Irelands position?

1. Is it correct that if Ireland does vote yes to the fiscal treaty this does not guarantee access to the ESM in the event we fail to fund ourselves on the bond market?
2. If we do require funding the ESM can set additional austerity measures as part of the agreement to provide funding to Ireland?

I think we should kNOw if any economists have done a debt cost viability study to see if we can actually afford the weight of the bank debt, promisery notes, bailout 1, & estimated bailout 2 and include projected economy over the next 5 years? Just to give a rough idea to see if it is sustainable. This could clear up if we really do need to look for write down or if its worth slogging away?
please put this to professional opinion. theJOURNALrules.

How much is money from the ESM?
Micheal Martin has said it would be at cost, i beleive thats not true.

I’d love if you guys could help clarify the many myths and misconceptions about this treaty.

1. people think the fiscal compact and the ESM are immune from any legal proceedings. Can it be clarified that this immunity is only within their frame of reference. So that if they do something illegal they are still liable for it.
2. The treaty is not being added to our constitution, it’s only the permission for the government to ratify it.
3. Can you confirm that all the fiscal limits in the treaty already exist in other agreements so by default anyone claiming that it’s the ‘austerity treaty’ is wrong. Some of the limits are from 20 years ago.
4. That it doesn’t overrule our constitution and all the other scary stuff people are claiming.
5. That we can meet the targets in this treaty with just inflation and nominal growth. economic-incentives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/whats-on-table.html (Even using the real figures from the 1980’s this works)
6. That the majority of the money we’re borrowed went to fund the day to day running of the country and not to the banks. economic-incentives.blogspot.com/2011/11/deficit-and-banks.html
7. That people claiming we can just get a deal on the ‘bank debt’ really don’t understand the complexity of the situation. There’s an excellent thread explaining that here. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056647891 (Of course Ganley is a smart guy who already knows this, he’s just not adverse to telling porkies).
8. That the ESM requires unanimity so they cannot force us to increase or change our payments to it. We appoint one of the board.
9. That growth or stimulus doesn’t necessary work either. The US and Japan have had huge stimulus packages with little actual benefits for the massive money spent.
10. That ‘having control of your currency’ is not the panacea that some make out. That UK has gone from the third most indebted country in the EU vs GDP to the forth most indebted for all their control and quantitative easing.
11. That we are not a heavily taxed country in Ireland. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/0522/1224316503183.html
12. That the household charge and water charge are not mentioned in the treaty whatsoever.
13. That the correction mechanism involves an independent Irish body to oversee our budgets, not some EU one.
14. That we are already massively over what the IMF should loan us. A figure normally based on a country’s contributions to the IMF.

Food for thought hopefully :)

as far as i can tell pretty much every country are in some sort of dept purely for practicality, would the automatic actions taken when the country goes into a deficiet of just .5% of the GDP not give us little or no leeway?

I would like to know
1. Who added/why was the clause add to the treaty?
2. Is there provision for any circumstance that any individual or group of countries to opt out of this treaty in the future?
Thank you

Just saw that you can get 7/2 on Paddy Power for a “No” bet!!

I would appreciate any guidance on the referendum as am truly conflicted. I am leaning toward spoiling my vote. I take my right to vote seriously and am offended by the black and white approach to such a complex issue. For the most part I agree with the Treaty. However it should have been in place long ago before the crisis developed. Requiring deficits to be below 3% of GDP is fiscally responsible as are requirements to reduce such excesses by 5% per year. Maintaining debt at 60% of GDP is also sensible. However, in the middle of a seemingly insurmountable debt crisis it seems unworkable. Countries often operate in excess of these figures it seems (Canada I believe has a debt of around 80% of GDP and yet people are flocking there for work). In short I agree with the treaty in principle. I agree that greater fiscal integration and budgetary oversight is good (it would have been great had this been in place during the Celtic Tiger madness) but feel that enshrining such measures within a legal agreement at this point in the crisis will only set Ireland and other EU states up to fail and guarantee deeper recession and undermine growth. Can EU leaders not park the treaty while they instead put their energy into devising a growth strategy in tandem with fiscal corrective measures and once the crisis ebbs (which I hope it will) then lock countries in to agreements on fiscal responsibility so that this can never happen again? I would really appreciate any insights as am really confused by all this.

We have a 119% deficit and the treaty would oblige us to get this down to 60%. what is the plan to achieve this and how many years would we have to do it?
Seems we will be like the Greeks if we have to do this – the quicker we have to do it the greater the austerity- how will it benefit Ireland?

If a financial penalty was to be imposed on Ireland for non compliance of the treaty, and assuming this would need to be passed on to the taxpayer, how much would this cost us individually and has the Government made plans for how this will be applied?

My question is simple. The no side are very vocal that austerity doesn’t work. Can they show why and for whom it doesn’t work?

What I would like to know is, if the treaty is passed can the goverment ratify the ESM treaty prior to the IIRC’s hearing on the 19th of June, or will they have to delay signing off on the ESM? If they dont have to wait and go ahead and ratify the ESM and Pringle wins his case, what happens then?

Whats the point not voting NO, if we vote NO, they going to have another referendum until we eventually vote yes, just reminder of Lisbon Treaty, so try to save money and conflict between Irish government and EU and vote YES