Professor Karl Whelan has said the economics of the EU Fiscal Compact Treaty "are pretty terrible", but as future funding from the ESM is conditional on our signing it, it is a powerful argument for signing it.
He added that this is a badly designed fiscal compact but we should stick with the "European project" and hope to improve its design in future.
The 'golden rule', which is the real innovation of the treaty, is a poor rule, he said. In practice, the proposal would effectively abolish the sovereign debt market.
Professor Whelan also said that the pact, if applied across Europe, would lead to more austerity on average than is required, in his opinion. He he said that from his point of view, our national interest requires signing it. That is unfortunate, he said.
Speaking at the Joint Oireachtas Committee meeting on European Union Affairs, he added that if the treaty is put to a referendum and fails, we will not have access to ESM funding, and the chances of getting back into bond markets are slim, Ireland risks a sovereign default and probably leaving the Euro.
Professor John McHale, of The Fiscal Advisory Council, speaking at the Oireachtas Committee, said that it was important for people to understand the consequences of a rejection of the Treaty.
If, he said, we don't get access to ESM funding by not signing the Treaty, that's a big deal. We would be taking a huge risk, he added, and it is possible not to have access to ESM funding and not to have access to the markets at the same time.
Mr Tom McDonnell, of the independent Think-Tank TASC, said the poison pill in the Treaty is the clause which states that ESM funding is conditional on signing the Treaty.
Solving European debt crisis urgent - China
China's Premier Wen Jiabao said today that solving the European debt crisis was "urgent" and called on the international community to cooperate, after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The German leader is in China for a three-day trip aimed at reassuring Beijing about the situation in Europe, where a sovereign debt crisis has seen a wave of credit-rating downgrades and brought Greece to the brink of bankruptcy.
Europe is China's top export market and Beijing has watched with increasing concern as the debt crisis has deepened, repeatedly urging European leaders to get a grip on the situation.
In a press conference held with Merkel, Wen said China was still researching how to participate in the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) - a temporary rescue fund established to help struggling economies in Europe.
The head of EFSF, who came to visit China last year, expressed an interest in Beijing investing in the fund, but so far nothing has been decided or announced.
