Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is hardly surprising that the Taoiseach has welcomed the new European Commission. Sinn Féin voted against the Commission because we have serious concerns over its make-up. We regret that it is still suffering from a major democratic deficit and continues to have too much power over EU policy and member states. The hearings have shown that the new Commission will continue on the path of the former Commission and will not shift the current political orientation towards a real social Europe. Jean-Claude Juncker's new European Commission has presented a programme which essentially constitutes a continuation of the failed austerity policies of its predecessor. There is also a major overlap between the private business interests of certain Commissioners and their portfolios. There appears to be a possibility for major conflicts of interest. For example, the Spanish Commissioner, who now has the climate action and energy portfolio, held significant shares in oil companies until a few months ago, and his family members still have shares in oil companies. Will this man be more of a lobbyist for energy companies than a Commissioner for climate action? Sinn Féin also regrets that no progress has been achieved on the representation of women in the Commission team. Of the 28 members of the Commission, 19 are men and nine are women. Even the Taoiseach selected a man to go forward. The EU should be working towards getting a 50-50 gender balance on the Commission.

Last month the Government brought forward a budget which rewards the wealthy elite and punishes ordinary working families. It did that in tandem with its punitive and totally unnecessary water charges. The Government has talked up a recovery that appears on the balance sheets but not in the pockets of citizens, particularly those on low and middle incomes. While I suspect that the Government went to this European Council meeting to present a picture of the recession being over and Ireland's economic problems being solved, communities across the State have been ravaged by emigration and towns and villages are marked by dereliction.

Astonishingly, it seems the Government wants the Irish people to forget about the prospect of retroactive recapitalisation of Ireland's banking debt. It is not really our debt but was foisted on us. Last month the Government voted down a Sinn Féin amendment to the European Stability Mechanism Act 2012, which would have compelled the Minister for Finance to apply for retroactive recapitalisation. We were told by the Taoiseach and former Tánaiste, Deputy Gilmore, two years ago that we had achieved a great victory on retroactive recapitalisation, which they called a game changer. Now, however, the Government does not want to discuss the matter. Another European Council meeting has come and gone and, again, the conclusions do not mention any move towards retroactive recapitalisation for Ireland. Did the Taoiseach even raise retroactive recapitalisation during the economic issues section of the European Council meeting? The reality is that the banking debt has cost every man, woman and child in this State €14,000. It is the primary reason why families' incomes have been slashed, public services decimated and thousands of people forced to emigrate. When Sinn Féin pressed the Government on applying for retroactive recapitalisation we were told time after time that we had to wait until the system was in place. It has been now in place since yesterday but the Minister, Deputy Noonan, will not commit to applying to it. The fact that this Government voted down our amendment last month, which simply compelled him to apply for retroactive recapitalisation, adds to our fears that Irish citizens will not see a cent of that banking debt recouped.

Fianna Fáil also voted against our amendment. Perhaps the leader of that party will take the time, when he is finished with other distractionary pursuits, to explain why that happened, given previous indications of an intent to support it. Can the Taoiseach confirm today that the Government will apply for retroactive recapitalisation and undertake to inform the Dáil in due course about his plans to do so?

I welcome the Irish contribution to the effort to tackle the Ebola crisis. However, we must do more. I commend, in particular, those Irish people who are working in west Africa to alleviate the suffering that is happening there. Poverty is at the core of these problems. It is interesting that none of the United States citizens who contracted Ebola has died. I presume anybody in Dublin who contracted it would likewise survive, notwithstanding the poor quality of our health service. It is poverty that underlies this problem and it is poverty that must be tackled.

The Taoiseach made no reference in his statement to the situation in the Middle East. Last month, Martina Anderson, a Sinn Féin MEP, was selected as chairperson of the European Parliament's delegation to Palestine. I hope the Taoiseach will acknowledge and welcome the importance of such a prestigious and important role being placed in the hands of an Irish MEP. In October I met with Dr. Mohammed Maqadama, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, medical mission in Gaza, who was visiting Ireland. As I detailed yesterday, Dr. Maqadama spoke of how devastating Israel's military bombardment of Gaza was, how medical personnel were directly targeted while on duty, and how much money and goodwill are needed to rebuild Gaza. The Government has been generous to UNRWA and I hope this will continue to be the case. However, its non-policy on this issue amounts to support for the current Israeli regime. The Government's abstention on the UN Human Rights Council motion regarding Israel's indiscriminate bombing of Gaza was a disgrace. Its vote against a motion calling on Israel to sign up to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty degraded Ireland's work on creating a nuclear-weapons-free Middle East.

Last Thursday Sweden recognised the state of Palestine. Last month the Seanad passed a motion calling on the Government officially to recognise the state of Palestine. The British House of Commons passed a similar motion and the Spanish Parliament is considering the matter. I have raised this issue regularly with the Taoiseach, the former Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and the current Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. Will the Taoiseach engage with the Swedish Prime Minister and others on the possibility of getting together a progressive bloc of EU countries to recognise jointly and officially the state of Palestine and thereby restore the potential for a two-state peace process?

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