Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the people I have already written formally to the Prime Minister to express my regret at the fact that the negotiators for the Greek Government were taken away from the negotiating table and to seek their return to resume discussions. I am glad that, following the response from the leaders with whom the Prime Minister corresponded, the Greek authorities have tabled a new paper. At the eurozone leaders' meeting there was no discussion about a debt write-down. There was a direct reference to the question of reprofiling Greece's debt. That could have happened if the authorities and the institutions had put together a deal during their meeting on Saturday, which would then be endorsed and supported by the Greek Government and put through the Dutch, German and Finnish parliaments, as is required. A review of the implementation of that programme, which would continue until October or November, could consider the question of reprofiling Greek debt. As Deputy Adams will be aware, in Ireland's case we reprofiled various elements of our debt, including interest loan reductions, the extension of maturities on loans and the question of dealing with the promissory notes for a longer term and at lower interest rates, an issue the Deputy raised in this House on numerous occasions. When the Deputy suggested that the European Union should be told to go and stuff itself, I assume that he did not take into account the Structural Funds, the Common Agricultural Policy, the European Social Fund and the billions of euro which flowed to this country because of our membership of the European Union and which transformed the country over the past 40 years. Ireland empathises with the people in Greece. Deputy Adams might pretend to be the Greek party in Ireland but his own economics have given the lie to that because they do not stand up.

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