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

My question related to whether the Taoiseach had detailed discussions with the Greek Prime Minister or senior members of the Greek Government. This is in preference to just happening upon them at European meetings. I asked this because I have spoken to public representatives in Greece recently and the Taoiseach would find it illuminating to do so. Perhaps the Taoiseach has already done this. In order to secure a 1% reduction in the interest rate, Greece has had to agree to sell its ports and harbours, power generation and the water and telecommunications systems. It has also had to close down and merge hospitals, agree to cancel the minimum wage and sell the Popular Bank, which is the Greek equivalent of a credit union. Interestingly, there is a review of that required in the EU and IMF deal.

The country is faced with a position where it is unable to meet the terms of that deal. I was informed by the same public representative that the Greek authorities are now being asked to put up other State assets, including land banks, as collateral against future loans. This looks like the asset stripping of a country and it is required in return for reductions in its loan rate as part of the overall package. It certainly does not look like a bailout.

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