Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)

It is not long ago when Berlin was very eager to be seen as the champion of European unity. I am not convinced history will put this slant on it following this crisis. There is no doubt the attitude towards Greece has changed. I had the impression 18 months ago that under no circumstances would Germany allow Greece to fall away from the eurozone but I am not convinced of this any more. A lack of trust has developed and the German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, has been fairly open about this. He is eager to be rid of Greece at this stage. Now that a better firewall is in place and there is not much confidence in Athens implementing the reforms the Germans would like it to implement, I would not bet on Greece being part of the eurozone in two or three years time.

The austerity programme on which the Germans insist for all of us is hugely problematic, not for them but for us. The German attitude has the potential to destroy the eurozone. If European monetary policy is run according to German interests, huge structural imbalances will accumulate. The unemployment rate in Germany is very manageable at present as it is less than 7%. Last year its GDP growth was 3%. It suits Germany very well for us to implement austerity but we can all see what austerity is doing here and it is even more draconian in Greece.

The unemployment level in the 17 countries of the eurozone has reached 16.9 million, which is 10.7%, and includes the good countries such as Germany and the Netherlands. Mass unemployment is haunting Europe; it is the biggest problem out there. I do not see how bleeding the patient will be a cure. Unemployment will not be fixed by austerity. The fiscal problems might be fixed but unemployment will not be. It is frightening to see how EU-imposed cuts have left one in five people unemployed in Greece and increased the suicide rate by 40%. This is serious and very frightening. Anyone who argues austerity will spur growth or boost employment is living in cloud-cuckoo-land.

The philosophy of John Maynard Keynes is out of favour at present. He famously stated if one looks after unemployment, the budget will look after itself, but sadly this is not how Berlin sees it. I would like to argue that Europe's crisis is not only about economics. Unlike GDP or inflation, unemployment is the major economic indicator which measures real human beings rather than growth or prices. Having a job is not just about earning a living or paying taxes; it is about dignity and self worth. The human and social costs of unemployment are well known and are the same here as in Greece: financial hardship, emotional stress, depression, loss of morale and status, shame, sickness, premature death and hopelessness. These lead to crime, disorder and social unrest. We are sowing the seeds of many problems. Through cuts to education and the lack of employment, austerity is robbing us of the future. It is also robbing us of the present because of the lack of work and the hardship people are going through.

I know it is not easy to run a government. It is not easy to run a business. However, it is not good enough to state we have no money if we are able to find €31 billion for Anglo Irish Bank. A total of 450,000 people are unemployed in Ireland. If it took €30,000 to create a job for each of these people, it would amount to €13 billion, which is less than half the amount being given to Anglo Irish Bank and less than one third of what it will eventually cost us to give it this €31 billion. We are able to find money for some things but not for others and this has to do with our approach. I do not see how what is being done to Greece will help. We are being told the Greek economy will contract by only 4.3% this year, will not contract next year, before achieving a growth rate of 2% in subsequent years. Last year it contracted by 8%. How, in God's name, will Greece reduce the rate of economic contraction to 0% next year? This objective is not possible against a backdrop of wage, expenditure and pension cuts, collapsing consumer confidence, capital flight and an investment strike. How will Greece turn its economy around under these conditions? I wish the Greeks well, but at some stage Europe will have to reconsider the philosophy of austerity. The medicine will not produce the cure it seeks.

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