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

Is it not true that the most important thing for the Minister and the Government is to see that Greece does not get any deal they could not get and that no write-down of debt be given? The Minister stated that he had been helpful to the Greek authorities. I do not think it was very helpful to ask for the noose placed there by the ECB to be tightened around the necks of the Greek people and Government. The Minister obviously does not agree with left-wing politics, and that is fine, but how dare he lecture the Greek Government on what reforms it should implement? I do agree with the Minister on one or two things. I agree that the banks should be taken over and nationalised in the interests of the ordinary people of Greece, and that capital controls should be put in place to stop the attack on the Greek economy from the markets. Hefty wealth taxes should be imposed on the rich, such as the shipping magnates, who have escaped scot-free in the past six years and who are investing their money in property deals in Mayfair in London. Greece should appeal to the workers of Europe to support it in its demands for a change in policy at the top of the EU. On Saturday, at the anti-water charges protest, people showed solidarity with the ordinary people of Greece. They should refuse to take on this monstrous debt burden.

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