Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)

I thank the Minister for his response to my question. Will the Minister accept there is genuine concern in society about the future of the euro and its impact on the economy? Does the Minister accept that the political and economic landscape is changing on the day? Is there a plan B to deal with these situations?

I ask for the Minister's response to a statement by the Nobel prize-winner economist Paul Krugman that Europe has had several years of harsh austerity programmes and the results are exactly what students of history said would happen. Such programmes push depressed economies deeper into depression.

Is this the current situation in the European Union? Was the euro too much of a political project rather than an economic project? I note the Minister in his reply accepted that there were design flaws. Did it remove a critical shock absorber to cope with the economic imbalances? Did all the experts and the people in the ESRI tease out that situation comprehensively?

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