Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I put it to the Commissioner that he is repeating the failed mantras and ideological dogma that got us into our current desperate mess. He stated that he does not wish to interfere with countries' tax sovereignty but in the same breath he expressed a preference for taxes on property and water charges. How does he expect people who have no work and are hovering at the poverty line to pay the household and water charges that the Commission is pushing on our Government? How can he claim that his preferences on tax are beneficial to growth and jobs when growth across Europe is contracting and unemployment is at record highs? The policies imposed on this country have led to record unemployment and a dramatic contraction of the domestic economy.

Lastly, why does he continue to push the privatisation of our State assets when the deregulation and privatisation which the EU has been pushing for the past 25 years have failed catastrophically in Europe and everywhere they have been tried? Why does it continue to push that dogma and try to strip this country of its vital resources and State assets?