Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will begin by dealing with Deputy Boyd Barrett's rather long question. Some other questions were asked by Deputies Martin, Adams and Crowe, as well as by the various Technical Group speakers, during the first part of this debate. Obviously we have a new Government now in Greece. It is very much at the early stage. We have to welcome the clear statement by the new Greek Prime Minister, particularly in the latter stages of the election campaign, that he wishes to negotiate. We have heard demands for negotiations today. While it is important for the new Greek Government to focus clearly on its specific challenges, some of which we have in common, I emphasise that the Irish and Greek economies and debt situations are very different. Regardless of how much the parties on the hard left might like to see similarities where they do not exist, we need to be careful not to allow the differences to be blurred.

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