Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)

I welcome being part of this debate, which is a very important one to have this week, and I thank the Technical Group for tabling the motion. I speak as an internationalist, a European and an Irish person. It is important to put on the agenda what is happening now and the lessons of the past because I do not believe we have really learned from the lessons of the past.

Many economists and economic historians believe the economic collapse of the 1930s could have been avoided. They agree that what should have been a normal period of contraction in the capitalist cycle was turned into a great depression by the wrong policies of central banks and governments. Those policies of those banks and governments were to stick with the gold standard, balance the books, drive down wages, cut imports and boost exports. In today's terms, that translates into austerity and what is happening here - a programme of austerity which deflates economies, slashes demand and creates mass unemployment.

A US presidential candidate from an earlier period said at that time that mankind was crucified on a cross made from gold. I am not an economist or an economic historian but anyone who is prepared to look at things clearly will see that the policy of austerity, attempting to cut the deficit, driving down wages to achieve competitiveness and cutting welfare and social and infrastructural spending are not and will not work and, even worse, risk repeating the disaster of the 1930s.

At the insistence of the IMF, the EU Commission and the ECB, all unelected bodies, Greece, Italy, Spain and Ireland have been told they will be put on rations. Greece and Italy, which were slow to follow orders, experienced regime changes. Now Merkel insists that this policy, which is completely undemocratic and condemns millions of unemployed people to unemployment, lower living standards, reduced social services and years of economic stagnation, could be enshrined in treaty changes.

The response of our Government is to ask if this cannot be done some other way because treaty changes and referendums are a problem for Ireland and the people keep getting it wrong and saying "No". Will we tweak the Lisbon treaty to try to avoid a referendum?

What really gets my goat is that we are being told by this Government that following three years of austerity, this country must face another three years of austerity and that we could potentially have to hand over our fiscal independence to the ECB and a finance minister in Europe who will control our economy.

We should also be clear that the German Government is offering nothing in exchange. Sarkozy may believe he has a deal with the ECB moving to become a lender of last resort but he does not. German Government sources are busy briefing that no such deals exist. Despite this, I have no doubt that the Government will continue to follow orders and hope for the best.

Europe is heading for yet another disastrous period in its history unless the majority of working and unemployed people build a mass movement of solidarity in opposition to these insane policies, challenge the markets dictating our lives and impoverishing us, put the rights of people first, enshrine those rights and put people to work to protect those rights.

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