Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

The debate moves on, the politics shifts and the categoric evidence of the failure of austerity is there for all to see but the Irish system and the Taoiseach simply do not want to see it.

The Taoiseach quoted the OECD earlier during Questions to the Taoiseach and tried to put a positive gloss on its position, so let us see what it makes of matters.

The OECD states the eurozone crisis remains the single biggest downside facing global outlook. No surprise there. We would all agree with that. It also states that the risk is increasing of a vicious cycle involving high and rising sovereign indebtedness, the debt overhang; weak banking systems; excessive fiscal consolidation, read austerity and cutbacks for that - all things for which the Government is a cheerleader; and lower growth. That is its description of the vicious cycle it sees us in, and I agree.

See this speech in context