Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will be aware that this is a matter primarily for the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, who has been actively engaged, along with his European colleagues, in dealing with the current situation in Greece. I confirm that there is solidarity in Europe, and indeed in Ireland, in terms of assisting the Greek Government and its people, and this was shown by the Eurogroup agreement on Friday to extend the programme. We fully empathise with the new Government's commitment to provide a social package to help the most vulnerable and marginalised sections of Greek society.

It is true to say that the people of Greece have suffered much more than the people of Ireland. The 25% of the Greek workforce who are unemployed have no access to social assistance after 12 months and they then have to live as best they can. The new Government in Greece is committed to tackling this problem, and eurozone members do not have a difficulty with this important social policy objective. The meetings of EU finance Ministers in the Eurogroup and at ECOFIN offer the correct forum for the Greek Government to bring forward such proposals relating to the restructuring of the Greek debt.

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