Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I will need the quarter of an hour remaining until 7 p.m., as I have spent a long time preparing what I have to say.

John Healy, a journalist with The Irish Times, once wrote a famous book entitled, No One Shouted Stop. Democracy, the cornerstone of the European Union, is under threat and those who question this are subjected to slogans and told they are eurosceptic. This does no service to the European ideal.

We all know one of the main causes of the Second World War was the imposition of unsustainable debts on the German people under the Treaty of Versailles. We should never be so arrogant and complacent as to think the imposition of unsustainable debts on countries such as Greece in 2012 will not lead, in the very least, to social unrest on a massive scale, perhaps even worse. The European Union was founded to ensure this would never happen.

The European project was built on the twin pillars of democracy and acting on a communautaire basis. As the European Union departs from its founding principles, it will sow the seed of its own destruction. Those who most admire and respect the European ideal should be the first to criticise it when it abandons these praiseworthy ideals in times of crisis such as this. The actions of the member states and the European Union in trying to undermine democracy, a basic pillar of membership of the Union, by successfully imposing a technocratic government in Italy and attempting to impose a technocratic government in Greece show how fragile is democracy and the European Union itself.

The Greek problem is not comparable to Ireland's in its origins, as our difficulties are essentially rooted in a banking problem wherein European banks lent colossal sums of money into the economy, sparking a lending frenzy, a property boom and an old-fashioned bubble. The Greek crisis was due to a lack of budgetary control, leading to large budgetary deficits. While it is clear the origins of the crises in the two countries are quite different, the consequences in both have been high unemployment, no or low growth and an unsustainable debt burden.

When a country falls into debt - similar to a person or a company - lending it money at high interest rates to repay exorbitant debts, while undermining its ability to earn, which for a government means economic growth, can never form the basis of a lasting solution. These crazy economics seem to have become the orthodoxy in Europe, yet most people who rely on everyday experience and many reputable economists realise that this does not work.

We have to grasp the nettle and accept there were major flaws in the construction of the euro. There were serious flaws in the reporting mechanisms; in the absence of central control over the financial and banking system across the eurozone; and in not providing for curbs on the transfer of large amounts of money between banks in different states in the eurozone, thus allowing the creation of the bubble that appeared in Ireland and Spain.

When one examine the remedies being offered to Greece, the focus of the European Union, the ECB and the IMF is to try to recover the maximum amount of money for private investors. The Greek Parliament has already been forced to pass a law giving priority to debt repayments over other government obligations. This bailout makes debt the number one priority rather than seeking to create a financially secure and socially just Greece. This is being done through voluntary credit swaps which have been sweetened for investors by ensuring GDP-linked securities will pay out a little more generously if Greece avoids another default.

In their recent decisions on Greece European leaders have obtained the political benefit from scalping private creditors fully aware the actual payouts to these creditors could increase if there is growth above the projected estimates which remain ridiculously conservative. The main beneficiaries will again be the investors rather than the Greek people. This will put Greece in a straitjacket for many years and possibly depress effort because one could ask what is the point of increasing output if gains are being siphoned off to pay a bottomless pit of debt.

In seeking a solution to the Greek problem policymakers have largely ignored Greece and its people, preferring instead to concentrate their efforts on the markets, recovery for private investors and minimising the contagion risk. As many economists and academics have noted, the process is no longer about assisting Greece, rather the primary concern is to minimise potential losses to German and French banks. It is against this background that the European Union must accept its share of responsibility for the Greek crisis which was largely caused by the flaws in the system it created and take drastic action to alleviate the burden imposed on the Greek people. This could be done by means of an official debt write-off or by the European Central Bank deciding either to issue bonds to sovereigns at 1%, as it has been willing to do for private banks, or engage in quantitative easing. In addition to the extraordinary measures that should be taken by the ECB, member states must seek to restore European economies to growth. In the long run, this is the only viable way forward.

The solutions I advocate are recognised daily in business through the examinership mechanism. Used even for the largest corporations, examinership recognises the reality of a fundamentally sustainable business with an unsustainable debt which further borrowing will not resolve. Through this process, a write-off of as much of the debt as is required to ensure sustainability takes place. Irrespective of how long we wait, the inevitable will happen sooner or later. The question we must ask is this: how much misery will be caused before we realise our folly?

As I indicated, a number of measures are needed to resolve the crisis, including a sustainable employment and growth package and a recognition that imposing enormous debts on countries arising from the follies and failures of international banking and finance corporations is neither just nor sustainable. Further, we need to have a strong central bank in the eurozone, rather than what is effectively a federation of 17 national central banks. A strong eurozone central bank would control the banking and financial sector, in particular, financial flows from stagnant growth areas to high growth areas in the eurozone, thus avoiding the attendant bubble effect which such transfers ultimately provoke.

We should all stand back and look objectively at the big picture. The Stability and Growth Pact implemented under the Maastricht treaty failed because action was not taken against France and Germany when they broke the pact's rules. Already the Prime Minister of Spain has ignored the European Commission on Spanish budget deficits this year, while the leading candidate in the French general election, Mr. François Hollande, has stated his desire to renegotiate the fiscal compact agreement. This brings to mind the Treaty of Limerick which was broken "ere the ink wherewith 'twas writ could dry."

In this time of crisis, instead of acting in a communautaire fashion, the larger countries in the eurozone are intent on protecting their national and electoral interests and private finances. The European Union and the European Central Bank refuse to control and regulate private banking and financial services, choosing instead to focus almost exclusively on national deficits and thereby force hardship on ordinary people. The EU and ECB theory of uncontrolled competition is seen to have failed. This issue needs to be examined further. If this House is to be relevant, it needs to question objectively and scrutinise every policy proposal. Failure to do so is an abdication of duty and will lead to a further discrediting of the Oireachtas. In a world where large countries jealously guard and protect their own interests Ireland must stand up for fair play, equity and natural justice for all the small nations in the European Union. This is the best way to protect our interests, those of other vulnerable small nations and, ultimately, those of the European Union.

Tá sé an-éasca do dhaoine a bheith ag caitheamh clocha le héinne a dhéanann ceistniú ar bith ar an Aontas Eorpach. Tá sé faiseanta sa lá atá inniu ann gur ionann ceistniú ar rudaí atá ag tarlú san Aontas Eorpach agus a bheith in aghaidh na hEorpa. Chonaic muid san am atá caite an chontúirt a bhaineann leis an meon sin, nuair a bhí institiúdí eile ar nós na heaglaisí Caitlicigh, An Garda agus go leor institiúdí eile nach raibh daoine in ann a cheistniú nó deirtí go rabhadar in aghaidh na neagraíochtaí sin. Tá a fhios againn an tubaiste a tharla dá bharr.

Is iad cairde an Aontais atá dhá cheistniú. Is iad na daoine a chreideann na hidéil, a bhí mar cúis le bunú an Aontais, atá dhá cheistniú. Iis iad naimhde an Aontais na daoine sin nach bhfuil sásta a thuiscint nach raibh eagraíocht ar bith a bunaíodh riamh sa saol nach raibh lochtaí uirthi nach bhféadfadh dul ar bhealach a aimhleasa mar nach raibh daoine sásta í a cheistniú. Le bliain anuas feiceann muid Merkel agus Sarkozy ag leagaint síos don Choimisiún céard atá le déanamh, ach de réir rialacha na hEorpa, tá sé sin glan in aghaidh na rialacha. Is é an Coimisiún amháin atá ceaptha le bheith ag leagaint amach polasaí. Eagraíodh sin d'aon turas le nach mbeadh forlámhas ag tíortha móra san Aontas nua seo ar na tíortha beaga.

Tá súil agam go n-éisteoidh an Rialtas agus nach mbeidh bodhar Uí Laoire i gceist ionas nach dteastóidh uatha scrúdú a dhéanamh ar chéard atá ag tarlú. Tá a fhios againn, san am atá caite nuair a rinne daoine dearmad gan éisteacht le tuairimí daoine eile, gur rugadh orthu sa deireadh mar nach raibh siad sásta rudaí a cheistniú. Tá obair fíor-thromchúiseach le déanamh. Tá intinn an Rialtais, is cosúil, socraithe sula dtagann sé faoi bhráid an Tí seo le na moltaí casta atá le déanamh aige. Is bocht an scéal é sin. Bhí an Rialtas seo ag rá an t-am ar fad nuair a tháinig sé i gcumhacht, go gcaithfeadh freagracht níos mó a bheith ar an Oireachtas, go gcaithfeadh sé níos mó ceisteanna a chur agus go gcaithfeadh sé neamhspleáchas a thaispeáint ag scrúdú moltaí an Rialtais. Focail breátha, focail folamha. Séard atá an Rialtas ag déanamh anois ná ag rá gur féidir leis rudaí a scrúdú nuair a shocraíonn sé gur ceart iad a scrúdú-----

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