Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is welcome, as always. I wonder whether the fault is the lack of an exit mechanism in the euro. He made a comment several years ago about feta cheese which was taken as humour, whereas I think his point was that Greece needs to export more. It is stuck at a fixed exchange rate compared to the drachma. I predict that this problem will recur despite efforts to make up for it via massive transfers. The lack of an exit mechanism may be a design fault in the euro. Apparently a state can leave the EU but it cannot leave the currency. Greece's problem is that it is locked into a relationship in which it cannot survive.

Last Friday I attended a meeting in TCD which Deputy Boyd Barrett addressed. I was only in the congregation, but it was interesting. One of the speakers was from Syriza and some of her comments were relevant to the Irish case. Syriza recognises that the Greek State has also failed and the speaker contended that the left has to confront the State when it fails. The Minister may hear some interesting insights at tomorrow's meeting in regard to how this issue is viewed. This is related to some of his comments about tax collection and the volume of directives with regard to enterprise. The speaker hinted that Greece is a bad country in which to do business.

The Minister referred to 16 member states which may be in need of further analysis. Was he referring to difficulties in economic policies for those states?