Burton: Rejecting Fiscal Compact will have consequences for investment
Potential investors in Ireland will be left "perplexed and bewildered" if voters reject the EU Fiscal Compact in the referendum to be held on May 31, according to Social Protection Minister Joan Burton.
Speaking in the Dáil today, Minister Burton said part of our attractiveness to multinationals such as Apple - which today announced 500 jobs for Cork - is our position at the heart of Europe.
But she warned that rejection of the Fiscal Compact in the referendum in six weeks' time would have consequences for future investment.
"It would leave the investors in Ireland perplexed and bewildered if we were to decide to… retreat from our position at the core of the eurozone," she said.
"The reason they are coming to invest in Ireland is because we are a critical location for multinational and international companies to invest in the eurozone."
Meanwhile Labour MEP Nessa Childers is "reluctantly" recommending a 'yes' vote, despite saying there is nothing to celebrate in the Fiscal Compact Treaty.
Speaking in Strasbourg today, Ms Childers said the treaty is the most important in the history of the State.
"There is no reason to celebrate," she said.
"It is not a celebratory treaty. It is because things went wrong with the regulation of the euro.
"This was a failure and we have to look it straight in the face."
"If I thought it was wrong, I would actually say 'no' and I would take whatever consequences came to me," she added.
"(But) I really feel that - reluctantly - we have to say 'yes'."
