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

It is bad enough that we have effectively seen a political coup d'état by the markets and the troika in Italy and Greece in recent weeks and all the suffering resulting from these so-called fiscal adjustments but is there any recognition on the Minister's part, as projected growth rates for Europe are being downgraded on a daily basis, that the austerity might not be working? Does the Minister agree that our ability to deal with deficit problems or even meet the terms of the troika agreement are dependent on economic growth when it is obvious that economic growth is being crippled in the eurozone? Is there any recognition on the Minister's part or that of the troika that no matter what they do it is resulting in the contraction of the European economy which will throw all plans for this economy and that of Europe off course?

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