John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will not dwell on this but I have to say to the Commissioner that the first obligation of any government is to keep its people safe. The same would apply to Europe. The Commissioner complimented Ireland on the work it did during the crash and that now we are getting back into a better position. I would say to the Commissioner that the people of this country are not getting back into a better position. They are slowly rebuilding a life that has been devastated by what happened in Europe and when Europe was needed more than at any other time, it was not there for us. It is, in a way, Ireland versus the world, which was the title of the Commissioner's discussion this morning. The Commissioner said that Ireland did not always play fair but I think it did.