FitzGerald took a leading part in the campaign for a second referendum on the EU's Treaty of Lisbon in 2009. He argued for Ireland to continue with European integration. FitzGerald had been scathing of the record of the Fianna Fáil–led Government since 1997, on the economy and the national finances. He was a frequent critic in his " Irish Times" column, of the loss of competitiveness that occurred and the inflation caused by the tax cuts and excessive public spending increases of the Celtic Tiger era. In 2009, FitzGerald received a new ministerial car, the first and only one to be purchased by the state since an economic recession hit Ireland in 2008. In 2010, FitzGerald appeared on RTÉ's "Top 40 Irishmen" list.