Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am glad the Deputy is following through on his convictions. I listened very carefully to what Prime Minister Tsipras said at the European Union leaders' meeting. He said that his country does not want to leave the euro and it will pay its way rather than default. He said he has to deal with corruption, infrastructure deficiencies and changing structures to make his country work, and that he needed our help. Mr. Draghi has given €87 billion in emergency liquidity to the Greek banks. Other countries, through their taxpayers, have contributed significantly to Greece and, believe me, they want to see Greece work as a democracy in order that its citizens can live the life they should expect in the European community.

However, that requires people to sit down and deal with the challenges they face. As the Greek Prime Minister said, he went to the OECD and met its personnel who were able to give him the best advice, technical and otherwise, to put in place the structures that he said were necessary for Greece to make its way forward. Believe me, there is a willingness not just to listen and respond with words but also to respond with assistance to put in place those structures to allow Greece to function as a democracy that can make its way forward, pay its way and deal over a longer period with these problems. That was accepted by the European leaders in hearing it directly from the Prime Minister, but that is not what came back from Athens later. I do not have the reasons the Greek negotiators were withdrawn, but I do know that papers are now being exchanged. The Greek Finance Minister, Mr. Varoufakis, has been talking, as have other members of the Greek Government, about whether the referendum will be held. I hope some progress can be made in the conference call which will take place today at 4.30 p.m. between the eurozone Ministers, as everybody wants to see this work. Nobody wants to have a situation where this will spiral downwards from what is beginning to happen in Greece. From our point of view, we will work with our Greek colleagues in any way we can to bring them back from the precipice. Greece is the first developed country to be in this position of arrears.

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