Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

With respect, Deputy Boyd Barrett does not understand the position of many of the European countries. European countries that contributed to Greece's two programmes went to their parliaments and then the parliamentarians went to their people and told them that they were giving loans to Greece which would be paid back. That is what they told their taxpayers and they are accountable to their taxpayers. We are not in for a lot of money, so it is not as big a political issue here, but the taxpayers and the parliaments of the European creditor countries were given a commitment that what was involved was a repayable loan.

To give another flavour of what is going on, I have heard the finance Ministers of at least five smaller countries asking how they can get more money for Greece when the Greek minimum wage is higher than that in their own country and when the pension proposed for Greece is significantly higher and the age at which it kicks in lower than what we can achieve in our own country. Deputy Boyd Barrett is a politician. How does one tell the finance Ministers of small northern European states to go to their parliaments and their taxpayers looking for more money for countries that, on the face of it, have better policy positions than they have at home?