Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The eyes of many in Europe and further afield, as the Taoiseach said, are now on the economic crisis which has been affecting the people of Greece. Both the people of Greece and those of this State have had unfair tax burdens imposed upon them. However, the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government, including the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, have consistently taken the side of the EU elite and the ECB against the people and government of Greece. We have seen media reports today, which the Taoiseach denied earlier, of the Minister for Finance’s posturing ahead of the euro summit and heard that he was one of the toughest contributors in talks on the EU's response to the Greek crisis. The Minister reportedly ganged up with the German leaders to argue that the ECB governing council could not keep meeting every day to approve emergency loans to Greece. Effectively, it is claimed that he called for controls on Greek banks but ECB officials told both him and the German finance Minister to stay away from monetary policy. The Taoiseach will remember how the Minister joked once about Greece and feta cheese. There has been little evidence of solidarity or understanding in the attitude of the Government, and of the EU, towards the Greek Government.

The current crisis is not in the interests of the people of Greece or of other EU states. The Government of Greece does not want the country to leave the eurozone, and the Irish Government must argue against any EU effort to force Greece out. Yet, time and again regarding Greece, as with this State, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance have not acted as representatives of the people of Ireland but as representatives of the EU elite in Ireland. What is now needed is firm support and solidarity for Greece from eurozone states, especially from this State.

The Greek Government is seeking a fair compromise which does not unduly target the poor and the most vulnerable Greek citizens. Greece is prepared for and has already agreed to a great deal of adjustment. However, it rightly argues that this adjustment must not be of the kind that previously crippled its country. Greece needs more reform, as do other highly indebted eurozone countries, not more cutbacks or destruction of public services and the economy.

As the Greek finance Minister pointed out in The Irish Timesat the weekend, wages in Greece have contracted by 37%, pensions by up to 48%, state employment by 30%, and consumer spending by 33%. He pointed out that Greece’s adjustment was so drastic that economic activity was choked: total income fell by 27%, unemployment skyrocketed to 27%, undeclared labour rose to 34% and public debt to 180% of Greece’s declining gross domestic product, GDP. The awfulness of emigration, with which we are familiar, has been visited upon thousands of young Greek citizens.

In the face of these realities, it makes no sense for creditors and other eurozone states to demand further cutbacks that will deepen the humanitarian crisis in Greece and push its poorest citizens into even greater poverty. The Greek Government is committed to serious reforms, especially to fight tax evasion and corruption. None the less, Greece’s creditors continually call for cuts to pensions, despite the Greek Government's statement that around 1 million families survive on pensions which have already been cut by up 48% and that further cuts to their meagre pensions would amount to putting them onto the streets.

Why does the Taoiseach not support proposals that would reform Greek’s economy to tackle its humanitarian crisis? Why does he continue to back the types of austerity measure which have failed citizens of EU states and increased inequality and destitution in Greece, Ireland, Spain and Portugal? Will he support Greece’s calls for a reduction in its unsustainable and unfair debt? Will he make common cause with Greece with a view to reducing this State's unsustainable debt also? That is what citizens in this State want from the Government. Indeed, that was the platform on which he won the 2011 general election.

In the course of Thursday’s Europe Council meeting, will the Taoiseach raise the case of Ibrahim Halawa, in light of the fact that his treatment in Egypt is in breach of international human rights obligations, including Article 2 of its Euro-Mediterranean Partnership agreement? I have raised this issue with the Taoiseach on numerous occasions. Mr. Halawa was only 17 when he was arrested and has been in prison for two years. He should now be in college or working, not caged in an Egyptian jail. His family are extremely concerned for his mental and physical health. His trial was postponed for the seventh time earlier this month, a mass trial involving 493 defendants. I have written directly to the Egyptian President calling on him to intervene on humanitarian grounds, not least because Ibrahim Halawa was a juvenile at the time of his arrest. I know the Taoiseach has stated his reasons for not directly intervening at this time with the Egyptian authorities. Article 2 of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership agreement states: "Relations between the Parties [to the agreement] ... shall be based on respect of democratic principles and fundamental human rights as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guides their internal and international policy and constitutes an essential element of this Agreement." Without intervening directly in the Egyptian judicial system, this article provides the Taoiseach with an opportunity to raise this matter at the European Council.

I commend the crew of the LE Eithnein rescuing more than 2,100 migrants in the Mediterranean over the past month. Will the Taoiseach urge the Council to tackle the crisis in north Africa and the Middle East as a humanitarian crisis? It needs to be tackled more urgently than we have seen thus far.

Will the Taoiseach take leadership at EU level on the Palestinian cause and to be a champion for peace in the Middle East? He is mandated to do so by the Dáil. We have our own history, respect and goodwill on matters in that region.

Will he provide an opportunity to discuss the report entitled Completing Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union? Sinn Féin envisages a social European Union, a Union of equals as opposed to the neoliberal and two-tier model that has emerged.

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