Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Yes, they are but from a slightly different perspective. I hope the Greek Government and people, with the support of all the countries of the EU, can deal with their problems. We are in a bailout situation and severe conditions are attached to it. It is causing difficulty for a number of our people but we are meeting the challenges and heading in the direction we must go to be in charge of our fortunes.

It is wrong of Deputy Boyd Barrett to equate the circumstances of Ireland with those of Greece. We have a very flexible and adaptable workforce, a strong trade surplus, strong indications of continued investment and high productivity. Our challenge is economic, caused by greed within banks, reckless lending policies and promissory notes that created a huge charge on us. As a consequence, we are in a bailout deal which we want to get out of to get back to the markets. We are now headed in that direction.

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