Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach's speech gave no signal of any change in European policies following the very clear message from the electorate throughout Ireland and Europe, where anti-austerity forces achieved major victories and many of the traditional parties of austerity were dealt a severe blow, for example, in Spain. The message from the electorate could not be any clearer. People are sick and tired of a constant diet of austerity after six years, but what is being dished up is a continuing menu of austerity. It is incredible that the Taoiseach is also clapping on the back Jean-Claude Juncker, who is an austerity hawk, who opposed any extension of deadlines for Ireland or any other country, and who is an ex-governor of the IMF. It seems that nothing has been taken on board by Fine Gael following the elections.

Of course, this is not about individuals. It is about how successive Governments, under Fianna Fáil previously and now this Government, agreed to tie the hands of this country and other countries in dealing with our economic problems. In the country-specific recommendations under the European semester, there will be a limiting of the statutory scope for discretionary changes by Government, so if there is any attempt to move away from the policies of austerity, the Government's hands are tied. There will also be an attempt to raise revenues through broadening the tax base. Given we assume it will not be corporation tax, it will be more taxes on working class people such as the water tax, the property tax and so on.

The Taoiseach mentioned a number of issues that are lined up for Ireland. The first is improving the cost effectiveness of health care spending, which is code for more health cuts, and the introduction of universal health insurance, which I predict will be massively opposed by families in this country given it is essentially a "pay or die", American-style system. The Taoiseach spoke of active labour market policies consistent with work a person has been doing before, which means more JobBridge and more so-called labour activation measures. He also referred to concern about an intergenerational transmission of poverty. The Government has not shown any concern about the transmission of poverty and it is sitting idly by while there is a homeless crisis and while thousands of young people emigrate.

Most worrying for people suffering from the mortgage crisis is the completion of the work underway to deal with the post-crisis legacy of non-performing loans in the financial sector. Again, this is code for speeding up repossessions. As public representatives, we are already seeing this, and more and more people are contacting us who are either renting or living in houses that are about to be repossessed.

The wealth does exist in Europe to wipe out mass unemployment, youth unemployment and all of the other social problems that are blighting the people of Europe. Unfortunately, however, it is concentrated in few hands. This wealth has to be expropriated and used to solve these fundamental problems to create a Europe for the millions rather than the millionaires, which the Taoiseach seems to represent.

I want to finish on the issue of foreign policy because I note the Taoiseach said there will a ceremony in Ypres to commemorate the First World War. The EU is at a stage where this is very relevant because wars are being waged in Iraq, Syria and Ukraine. While the Taoiseach is commemorating the First World War with the other leaders of Europe, he should have a chat in particular with David Cameron about the role of the British Government in the illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003, which has played a key role in the current problems in Iraq, where sectarian war is now breaking out. Instead of one Saddam Hussein, Western imperialism now faces a whole number of Saddam Husseins plus the rise of al-Qaeda-type organisations like ISIS and a shake-up of the entire region, with tragic consequences for the ordinary people of Iraq. Now that it is clear that weapons of mass destruction were an absolute lie and that oil was the basis of the invasion, it is incumbent on the Taoiseach to point out the role both of some of the member states in Europe, along with Bush in America, in that illegal invasion of Iraq and the consequences it has had for today, where divide and rule tactics are now being used between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims in the interests of Western imperialism.

See this speech in context