Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank everyone on the Commission team for their work and their presence. Following on from Deputy Broughan's references to Brexit, there is something slightly surreal today about discussing the economic situation in Ireland with an assumption, technical or otherwise, that things remain the same when there is a very significant chance that we are going to get a shock. I would like to know what the Commission representatives can say on what discussions they have had about Europe's response in the event of that shock. It may be limited but I would like to know.

Today, for example, Britain has laid out some of its stall in respect of what it intends to do. One element of that, the tariffs, in terms of east-west trade would be extraordinarily damaging to certain export sectors here, particularly beef. Something that everyone in this country would like to know is whether there will be extraordinary and substantial assistance from the European Union in the event that Ireland takes a massive hit because of those tariffs.

The second aspect of that issue, which is even more important, relates to the North-South Border issue. Today there was welcome news from Britain, notwithstanding the tariffs threat which is a very big problem, to the effect that it does not intend to put tariffs, checks or controls North-South in the event of a crash-out Brexit. Europe has played its cards pretty close to its chest on this. We have asked the Government repeatedly what Europe will do in the event of a crash-out. While we all hope there will be a deal, if not we need to know whether Europe will insist on checks, controls, and border infrastructure from North to South to protect the integrity of the European Single Market. That would be very damaging and must not happen. There will be active resistance to it and it would endanger the peace in this country in a very serious and existential way. Can Mr. Martínez Mongay shine any light on that, given that Britain has, on that point at least, laid out its stall? Can Europe do likewise?

The reports are very interesting and I agree with much of their analysis in terms of the broad brushstrokes that are identified as needing investment, the imbalances, debt situation, housing situation, health overspends and some of the key areas such as decarbonisation and childcare. However, I find it a little bit rich, to be honest, for Europe to point out the things of which most of us are aware when many of the imbalances and deficits result precisely from demands the Commission put on us in the post-2008 period during the troika programme. Has Mr. Martínez Mongay any comment on that? If one takes the deficit in public housing, to which he rightly alludes, while the crisis in public housing pre-dated 2008, the actions of the troika, which included the Commission, directly impacted on it. Our public housing programme came to a complete standstill for effectively a decade because of demands the troika put on us. Even now, in relation to our capacity to catch up in that area or in the areas of childcare or decarbonisation, the €5 billion or so that we are paying out in debt repayments on a grossly inflated debt because of the Commission's rules, seriously hampers our ability to address those capital infrastructure deficits. What does the witness have to say on that? Particularly in light of Brexit, does he not think that Ireland deserves a bit of a debt interest holiday on some of that excessive debt in order that we would actually have the funds to deal with some of these very significant deficits?

The country report referred to skills shortages, bottlenecks and possible overheating relating to that. Has Mr. Martínez Mongay any comment on wages and precarity?

He mentioned childcare, and I agree with him-----