Fine Gael TD for Kildare, Martin Heydon, has today (Tuesday) welcomed the announcement by the Government that a referendum will be held to ratify the Fiscal Compact Treaty.

“I very much welcome today’s announcement that a referendum will be held on the Fiscal Compact Treaty. Since this matter first came up for discussion, the Government stated that should the Attorney General recommend that this Treaty be put to the people, then it would do so.

“I believe it is important that the people of Ireland have the opportunity to debate this Treaty and have all their questions addressed. By ratifying this Treaty, we will be building on the steady progress the country has made in the past year and it is an important stage in our economic recovery.

“The past few years have been very difficult for so many people, but international investor confidence in Ireland is rising. Many new investments are being made, jobs are being created and programmes such as JobBridge are providing 5,000 job seekers with valuable work experience. We want this trend to continue and by approving this Treaty it will give the Irish people the opportunity to reaffirm Ireland’s commitment to membership of the Euro, which remains a fundamental pillar of our economic and jobs strategy.”

ENDS