Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 25 September 2014

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs

Forthcoming General Affairs Council: Minister of State

2:45 pm

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Absolutely. We were told that the economic policies being pursued in this country were wrong, that they would not work, and various economists worldwide were quoted and quoted themselves regularly, all of whom were wrong. Thanks to Mr. Draghi, that intervention at a crucial time was a decision, and decisiveness counts. On the same basis, the next challenge is European recovery. Ireland has done its bit in that area. We have shown that we are capable and the people of Ireland have shown by their sacrifices that they are willing to withstand great hardship to achieve a particular objective. All credit is due to the political leaders and to the people of this country for the sacrifices they made and the risks they took. We hope future generations will appreciate that.

The next question concerns economic recovery for the rest of Europe. Might it be possible for the European institutions to carry out an audit of the infrastructural deficits throughout the European Union that might inhibit rapid economic recovery and would also dramatically affect the future development of the European Union's ability to employ and generate economic impact?