The Fiscal Stability Treaty
On May 31st you can vote in a referendum on whether Ireland should ratify the Treaty on Stability, Co-ordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union. The short name of the Treaty is the "Fiscal Stability Treaty".
The Fiscal Stability Treaty was signed in March 2012 by 25 of the 27 EU member states as part of their response to the economic crisis, especially the crisis in the euro area.
The Treaty is about strengthening the rules designed to make governments keep a balance between their income and their spending. There are already EU rules about this which apply to Ireland. The Treaty aims to strengthen these rules and requires countries to put some of them into national law.
It is not necessary for all EU member states to ratify the Treaty for it to come into effect. If it is ratified by at least 12 euro area countries and if Ireland ratifies it, it will apply in full to Ireland as part of the euro area.