Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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I can assure the committee that economics is not my strong point so I shall ask baby questions. I concur with the professor's fearful outline of what might happen if the Conservative Party gains an overall majority in Britain and goes ahead with its opt in or out scenario in regard to Europe. The committee invited a witness here from the British Conservative Party who is a spokesperson on the role of Britain in Europe. Some of us found his position worrying, to say the least. What mostly worries us, having spoken to members of the Labour Party in England, is the sense of fatalism that even British industry, which Professor FitzGerald said would lose out, does not seem to be launching a defensive strategy on behalf of membership of Europe. Does the professor have an opinion on England opting in or out of Europe?

We, as politicians, have been confronted with the simple slogan "Austerity doesn't work." We need growth in jobs in the European arena and we have always argued for that. I understand - perhaps this links to what Senator Healy Eames said - that we have spent nearly every penny of the National Pensions Reserve Fund, or it has been set aside for job creation. We have also agreed that if we nationalise certain parts of the State and public sector, some of the money will fund growth in employment. We are also compelled to do so by the troika.

People have proclaimed loudly that austerity is not working. Interestingly, the Lithuanians undertook very severe measures and now have relatively healthy growth. Does the professor have an opinion on that? Can he suggest what we can do domestically? What else can we do, other that what we are doing under the terms of the troika agreement, to create growth in jobs and development?