Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to learn there is some movement today from the Greek authorities in respect of the difficulties in which the Greek people find themselves at the moment.

It is not the first time Deputy Martin has accused me of telling untruths in here. I happened to be at three European Council meetings where Prime Minister Tsipras spoke to the assembled leaders of both the eurozone and the European Union and in each case he made it clear that Greece did not want to default, that it would not default, that Greece wanted to remain a member of the eurozone, and that Greece wanted to do the things that are necessary to get its economy and its country back on an even track. At the special meeting of the eurozone on the Monday he repeated many of those objectives. He said clearly that the Greek Government accepted the objectives and principles set down by the institutions in so far as the path forward was concerned. He made the point that he was able to achieve social consent. He made a particular point about the tourism industry at all of those meetings in terms of how important and fundamental it was and is to the Greek economy. He also made a point about the number of islands off the mainland, the distances involved and the difficulties in so far as VAT is concerned, with particular reference to the tourism and hospitality sector. My comments in respect of VAT, PRSI and income tax were in that context, that our programme was not anti-growth or against the opportunity to create jobs and employment.

Deputy Martin said he himself was a member of a government that went about this business. That Government came to the House and said the programme negotiated with the troika was irreversible, unchangeable and could not be changed in any fact or area. That is the legacy he left. Those things were not acceptable to this Government and we set about negotiating alternatives with the troika.

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