Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have a few other questions. There has been much discussion on the flawed way the programme was designed. The head of the IMF mission said it was flawed and that it was the wrong type of programme. Others, including our great leaders in Europe, told us that austerity is not working. They said we had reached breaking point. Ministers have come out with similar statements in recent days. It is great that the penny has finally dropped. Some of us have been saying that for quite a long time. Does the fiscal advisory council believe that austerity has not worked in the context of the debate that has been taking place both internationally and domestically?