Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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To start with the last ECOFIN meeting, there was a belated acknowledgement of the significance of the crisis in terms of the decline in investment, an issue which was missing from the debate for a period but is finally being recognised. That decline has been in both public and private investment, which is central to why we are seeing a continuation of the crisis and why it has been as deep as it is in this country in particular. The wording of the statement from ECOFIN with regard to public investment suggests that ECOFIN is washing its hands of it. It "shares the concern" about the decline in public investment. The decline in public investment in Europe is significant and is happening at a time when public investment in other developed capitalist countries has generally increased as a percentage of GDP. That is not an accident. It is a policy choice. It is a choice by the European Commission and by right-wing governments to pursue austerity policies which, by definition, include a decline in public investment. More than that, it is written into law with the likes of the six-pack, the two-pack, the fiscal stability treaty and so forth. Does the Minister agree that unless we move away from those policies of austerity, we are not going to be able to deal with the decline in public investment? Instead of what is relatively small beer in terms of the European Investment Bank, what is needed is a significant European investment programme.