Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ms Day spoke about the fragile economy behind all the jargon and what it means for ordinary people. It is not the first time she will have heard this but there is a sense among many people I meet, and it is probably a view across Europe, that the members of the Commission, the Council and those who pull the strings in Europe have no real understanding of the hardship people are experiencing. I was woken this morning by a phone call from a journalist who told me that a learned judge is calling for the Civil Defence to be brought into my area. The judge is talking in terms of a breakdown in social order, and this is one of his solutions. The area I represent, which is not unique in Ireland or across Europe, has one of the highest unemployment levels in the country. The local hospital is in the news frequently regarding cutbacks and the difficulties they cause. The social services have never been under so much pressure in terms of the number of cases. There is unemployment, poverty and indebtedness. Children are going to bed hungry. That is not unique to my area and it is not unique across Europe. Those are the difficulties in my area and at the same time Ms Day talks about fragile economies. People talk about the potential for growth and so on but many of the people in the difficulties I describe are in the same position they were in three years ago; it has probably got worse. They do not see actions coming from Europe in regard to that.

I read all the background information in which there is a good deal of reference to avoiding boom and bust cycles, and restoring economic growth. All of that is hugely important but there is no mention of equitable growth and poverty reduction. Will the reforms we are discussing investigate that area? Will alert mechanisms be in place when a country posts high growth but an increase in inequality? It is not just a matter of facts and figures; we are talking about real people who are suffering. A figure that struck me was the number of young people leaving Ireland at a rate of one every six minutes. That is the reality with which we are dealing.

Is there any scope for an increase in the lending capacity of the European Investment Bank? Many of us would argue there is a need for a stimulus package and that the EIB should alter its rules to allow it to lend on a 75:25 ratio rather than the current 50:50 ratio. Many people across Europe would see that as a hugely positive development. Someone spoke about youth unemployment, youth investment and so on. To encourage growth investment should be allowed in those areas.

What is the possibility for growth in Ireland and similar countries across the European Union? Our GDP is 120%. I refer to the separation of banking debt and sovereign debt. The retrospective recapitalisation for Ireland was €65 billion, which it pumped into banks, but we are not hearing that. People are saying growth is coming down the track, there is half an agreement in place and so on but people have lost confidence in the entire process. We know about the potential for negative social change. That is happening across Europe with the rise of Fascist parties and so on but there does not seem to be any sense of that. We are not getting that at any of the meetings. Everyone is talking about the positives in regard to it but this is all happening in the areas in which we are living. The judge speaking about my area this morning is a wake-up call but I am sure learned judges across Europe are making the same statements about what is happening socially and so on. Ms Day's message this morning is about giving hope but the message people want to hear is that we will seriously tackle those inequalities and the burden that has been put on the shoulders of people who did not cause this crisis.