Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Events in the past month have made largely irrelevant the outcome of the last European Council. The items which were formally adopted had been agreed in advance and discussions did not move any major issue forward significantly. In fact, the Council did not discuss the major economic and political developments which were in train back in December and have come to the fore since then.

The victory of Syriza in last weekend’s Greek election represented a substantial cry from the people of Greece to be shown a more hopeful future. As the parties campaigned, as outsiders always do, Syriza promised that the answer to Greece’s problems was quite simple and the enemy clear. The idea that all Greek austerity was avoidable and was imposed from outside is manifestly and cynically dishonest, and we heard some of that commentary today. Unlike the situation in Ireland, Greece’s debts were incurred solely to pay for normal budgetary items and none of these bills was imposed on Greece. However, it is absolutely true that more must be done to assist Greece and the rest of the eurozone to return to more sustainable and fairer growth. There are certain realities in terms of the Greek debt-to-GDP ratio that have to be dealt with. This is something which I and Fianna Fáil’s spokespeople have repeatedly called for over the past three years.

We should note that Mr. Tsipras and his party spent much of the last month sending envoys through Europe to stress that Syriza is absolutely committed to keeping Greece in the eurozone and that it does not have an agenda which is a threat to foreign lenders or investors. In a meeting with investment funds in London they are reported to have said that they do not intend to take unilateral action on Greece’s debts. There is an underlying reality in regard to Greece’s debts which is that no matter what is done with the debts, nothing in the new Government’s programme is achievable without continued foreign borrowing. It understands this and its actions will reflect this.

It is the responsibility of Europe and individual states to engage actively and constructively with the new government in Athens. This should be done in the context of an overall settlement of debt-related issues within the Union and the adoption of a credible growth agenda. As I have said for a number of years, there are parts of Europe where fiscal reality means that there has been no credible alternative to tightening budgets. What there has been, and continues to be, an alternative to is the failure to help countries to stimulate growth and the avoidable austerity of countries with low debts and falling spending.

While the idea of a debt conference is good and one which I support, it will not solve all of Greece’s problems. The short and medium-term impact of its debts is relatively low because the money it has borrowed from international lenders is on very long terms with very low interest rates. What Greece needs is a pathway back to investment and this can only really come from international support. Part of this may come from the outcome of a debt conference and that is why we support the holding of one, but only if the concerns of all countries are on the agenda.

Ireland should be willing to be flexible about how the €350 million it has lent to Greece is returned and the terms of this loan. However, Ireland should not lose sight of the core point, namely, that it remains the most unfairly treated of all of the countries which either received a bailout or have seen steep increases in debts in recent years.

In the coverage here in recent weeks, a point missing most of the time is that Greece has already received preferential treatment to that received by Ireland. Its loans have been lengthened to dramatically lighten financing needs in the next decade and the interest rates have been reduced to effectively nothing. In addition, all profits which the European Central Bank makes on Greek bonds are returned to Greece. If these policies were applied to Ireland, it would make a significant difference to our budget.

We got the benefit of many of the changes negotiated by Greece, but because our Government was so busy spinning these as great victories, it has never sought full equality. In the case of the promissory notes, the Taoiseach will remember that when that particular deal was announced in an avalanche of self-praise, my party pointed out that it would only benefit Ireland if bonds were held by our Central Bank to maturity. This is because it can return to the Exchequer all profits on these bonds.

Last month, it was revealed that the Central Bank has actually speeded up its sale of Irish bonds, and the new situation is that the entirety of the promised windfall will be lost and the bill actually increased. The refusal of the Minister for Finance to explain fully the likely cost of the promissory notes deal suggests that this is something which he knows will undermine the official story. After two years of posturing, the Government last month quietly admitted that it is not even asking for a relief of bank-related debt. Even though the ECB’s determination to avoid a European Lehman Brothers has been shown to be central to the scale of debts incurred by our government, the Taoiseach will not say this in public. If Greece can seek to revise terms, then Ireland, with its stronger case for relief, must do so.

To start with, we need the Government to be willing to state this in public. The idea that this will associate us in some way with Greece’s wider economic problems is nonsense. There are underlying strengths in our economy which are well understood. The skills of our people, our broad export-focused industrial base and our pro-job creation policies have been built up over many years and lie at the heart of a return to growth. It is because they are long term, and not a product of a few years of one Government, that they have a credibility internationally which will not be challenged by looking for fair treatment on debt.

Some two years ago the Minister, Deputy Noonan, and the Minister, Deputy Howlin, were willing to envisage €30 billion in debt relief. Today they are looking for nothing. Hanging around to see what others get and hoping that it will be extended has failed. It has delivered nothing extra to Ireland and the policy of hyping everything has delivered the Government nothing politically. This is a moment when Europe must engage with the deep disillusionment of many of its citizens. Ireland must play its part and start seeking full justice for its case.

Since the Council met last December, the European Central bank has launched its programme of quantitative easing. This is extremely welcome and it should not have taken six years to happen. The quantitative easing programmes of the Bank of England and the US Federal Reserve worked. They delivered higher growth and employment and provided a more secure environment for a return to investment. Due to the constraints placed on the plan by those who would have preferred to do nothing, its impact may be lower than if President Draghi had been given more freedom, but it is still welcome.

It shows the ECB beginning to work more like a true central bank, one which is focused on the interests of all part of the eurozone and not just the most powerful. I welcome the fact that, after three years of being pressed on this, the Taoiseach finally asked the ECB to co-operate with our banking inquiry. Only those who put politics first deny the central role which the failed and abandoned ECB policies had in increasing the scale of Irish debt and the requirement for a bailout. The Trichet presidency of the ECB was disastrous for Europe and Ireland.

I welcome the indications that the European Court of Justice will shortly rule that the ECB should not participate in any troika-like arrangements. It has no legitimate role to play in fiscal and social policies and was a regressive force in opposing the burning of bondholders which was supported by the IMF. Ultimately, as the troika repeated time after time, individual measures were open to amendment by the Irish Government and that its concern was hitting overall targets. It was not the troika which forced our Government to implement a decisive shift to unfair and regressive policies; that was the choice of Fine Gael and Labour Ministers.

As the CSO figures have shown, the impact of the Government’s policies is that inequality and deprivation have grown by every measure. What has also been seen is a new phenomenon of deprivation being experienced even by families with reasonably paid jobs. They have been hit by the policy of piling up new charges, without concern for ability to pay and the weighting of four out of four budgets to give the largest benefit to the wealthiest in society. Equally, they have been hit by the refusal to engage with the mortgage and household debt crisis. Fattening up the banks for a pre-election sale has taken priority over helping the over 100,000 families in severe trouble and the net economic impact of this has been devastating. If this is to be a moment when Europe discusses a credible approach to debts and investment, then our Government needs to start demanding fairness for our country and needs to start showing fairness in its policies.

The escalation of violence in Ukraine has at its core the continued work of Russia to destabilise and further partition a neighbouring country. President Putin said yesterday that it was the duty of Kiev to support Russia, rather than to seek accommodation with Europe.

The entire rebel effort is funded, organised and in many cases carried out by Russia. The only people who deny this are those who are wilfully blind to Russia’s behaviour and who are disinterested in the rights of nations which want to be free of former imperial powers. The efforts of the High Representative Mogherini to start a discussion about lifting sanctions on Russia were unacceptable and my party welcomes the strong reaction of President Tusk and many governments which forced its abandonment. It is unfortunate that there are still many apologists for Russia’s behaviour and those who are willing to parrot its anti-Ukrainian propaganda.

The government in Kiev is a mainstream democratic government that enjoys overwhelming democratic legitimacy. It is implementing policies which are endorsed by its citizens. It needs two things most of all now. It needs us to be resolute in saying to Russia that it should get out Ukraine or there will be no let-up in sanctions. It also needs a far more generous international support programme. This is a democratic country which is under attack by a neighbour which wants it to be a servile and undemocratic puppet. The economy is devastated by the conflict which outside aggression has caused and by the lasting impact of the policies of a past government. The economic and social burden being carried by the Ukrainian people is too high and it is our duty to support a much more generous financial aid package. It has been an incredible feature of the past 12 months that we have had to listen to voices which pretend to support the rights of nations to be free but have refused to speak clearly against Russian aggression. Instead, they have promoted the lie that Europe and America are somehow to blame. The House should note that, yet again, Sinn Féin representatives have stood in the European Parliament with those seeking to attack the Ukrainian Government and excuse the Putin regime. They supported their group when it put down a series of outrageous motions opposing a proposal to condemn Russian aggression and support the rights of the Ukrainian people.

I endorse the Taoiseach's comments on the challenge of Islamic fundamentalism and, in particular, the recent terrorist attacks in Paris. I note the resolve of the European Union and all member states to work in solidarity, particularly in terms of security, policing and a sharing of knowledge and information in dealing with a very fundamental and serious threat to the freedom and liberty of individuals and the safety and security of our citizens.

The House should note that since we last debated European matters, the European Parliament has taken a position which would be directly damaging for Ireland’s economy if it were allowed to proceed. The vote seeking a break-up of Google is a classic example of Europe spending time on grandstanding rather than constructive work. It is noteworthy that representatives of Sinn Féin and some other Irish MEPs were present for the vote but refused to support one of our most important investors. This has the potential to be a repeat of the long and pointless engagement with Microsoft in the past. As has been seen with the incredible changes in the web browser sector, Microsoft’s contention that change was inevitable was true. Europe wasted an enormous amount of time, energy and money based on the false premise that Microsoft had a permanent monopoly on browsing. The idea that Google will never face competition unless it is broken up is nonsense. A much better approach would be to support a proper increase in funding to support innovation in information and communications technology. There is a fundamental need for the European Union to be far more outward-looking in its economic policies, particularly with regard to competition, state aid and its attitude to globalisation and the emergence of key companies in the technology sector. It should have a broader perspective than it has shown to date.

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