Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being late. I am coming from another meeting. On my way down the stairs I got a media alert stating that the European Central Bank had slashed the growth and inflation figures for Europe quite significantly. As if things were not bad enough, this is the icing on the cake. To echo what Deputy Durkan stated, one of the things that struck me most - I also attended the COSAC meeting in Rome - was a considerable unease that is growing across the European Union members and a diversity of opinion on where Europe is going and what types of intervention are necessary.

It was very disconcerting to listen to the representations of the Greek and Italian members, particularly the Greek contribution, about the situation in their countries and the Italian view that its economy was not in a very difficult position. There seemed to be almost a two-tier approach, with some countries being determined to stick to fiscal rectitude, while others were effectively stating Europe was stagnating, moving into decline, increasingly marginalised in the world and was not and would not be a major player. There was a sense that there was a lack of solidarity within the European family, so to speak, between certain northern European members and the southern European members about their priorities for Europe.

It is very depressing that 120 million Europeans are experiencing poverty and that the number has increased since the Europe 2020 strategy began. This may not be a fair comment, but the strategy relies too much on structural reforms such as deepening the Single Market – there has been a single market since 1992; breaking down regulation in certain areas; seeking greater efficiency; making labour markets more dynamic and ensurig sustainability. It is all very worthy, but there is a lack of acceptance that many European countries, including this one, want a genuine growth package that will seriously stimulate the European economy in the way the Federal Reserve was able to stimulate the US economy and the Bank of England was able to stimulate the UK economy. The figures from the Central Bank do not sh ow growth; we are moving into stagnation. Questions were put about the 3% cap on expenditure and why we could not exclude certain forms of capital expenditure from the cap were-----