Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister will be aware that the Greek Minister for Finance tweeted, prior to the election, that the Minister was his first ally on the debt conference issue. This does not just concern what is happening in Greece, although I believe there is a genuine obligation on us, as a member state, to stop the absolute torture being imposed by the European Union. The Minister spoke in the House about arrangements dealt with at the Eurogroup which were supposed to make Greece's debts sustainable. The proposal put €240 billion of debt on the shoulders of that country, of which 11% was used for its benefit. The rest went to repay debt and interest rate charges. There is an obligation on us to stand up in solidarity and say we support Greece in its endeavour to have its debt reduced.

There is also a responsibility on us to state on behalf of our electorate that we also need to reduce the level of debt the State has. In did not mention sustainable or unsustainable debt. I stated we are the fourth-largest indebted country in the European Union and the fourth-largest country which pays interest on debt as a proportion of GDP. It appears that if the Minister's partners in the Eurogroup, the ECB or the IMF told him they would reduce some of our debt he would tell them we are okay and we do not need it. This seems to be the position the Government has adopted.

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