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

I want to correct a lot of misinformation and propaganda that is being perpetuated by the Government. There are no queues at ATMs in Greece - absolutely none. What is clear is that there is a concerted propaganda campaign by television, by media and by governments abroad to present a picture of chaos in Greece. I have spoken to people in Greece about the situation and there are no queues, no panic and no chaos.

There is, however, an understandable fear as to what is going to happen because funds have been withdrawn to manipulate a "Yes" vote in the referendum on Sunday and, ultimately, to try to bring about the fall of Syriza and bring in a right-wing government in Greece. That has been colluded in by our Government, more than any other government in Europe, in fact, through the statements it has been making. Last week, we had the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, calling for funding to be withdrawn from Greece to bring it to heel. This morning, on radio, the Tánaiste, Deputy Joan Burton, conjured up pictures from Africa of defaults and terrible chaos, and lectured the Greek Government and Greek people. This is a woman who is attacking the most vulnerable in our society with her social welfare cuts. This morning, the Taoiseach said that in the referendum, a question should be put that, if they do not accept this, they leave Europe. That is an absolutely outrageous intervention from the Taoiseach. Where is the solidarity we were told was part and parcel of this EU project? Instead, there is an ultimatum: it is the troika's way, it is troika tyranny, or leave.

I do not accept that it is a case of walk away or bend to the will of the troika. What we are seeing laid bare is the real nature of the EU now, with no solidarity whatsoever. We are seeing shocking treatment of workers and unemployed people in Greece who have dared to elect a government on a platform of ending austerity and who have dared to challenge the austerity juggernaut they have endured. Let us be clear. The governments that got into this mess were not Syriza. They were parties, New Democracy and PASOK, which are similar to those in our Government, which ruled Greece in recent decades. They were the people who brought about the financial crisis in Greece, not Syriza. It was banks throughout Europe which lent that money to Greece.

The second point that needs to be made is that the Greek people have already undertaken every austerity programme they have been asked to undertake and it has not worked. It has brought about the highest suicide rate they have ever had, as well as homelessness and record levels of prostitution. That is the situation upon which the Irish Government wants to heap more structural reforms, as it calls them. Those are the parties which were in power and which toed the line to the EU, and the European Central Bank knew exactly what was going on.

With regard to the current situation, I do not know if there is going to be some kind of deal. I hope the referendum that is due to be held on Sunday goes ahead and I hope it is a "No" vote. I hope the bullying and the blackmail that is being heaped on the people of Greece does not work. Employers in Greece, I have been informed from Greek socialists, are pressuring their workers to vote "Yes", making the same threats that were made to us on Lisbon and Nice, namely, that foreign direct investment would pull out. They are pressuring their workers to go on "Yes" demonstrations and making all sorts of apocalyptic threats about the situation if the "Yes" vote does not win. Obviously, the withdrawal of funds two days before the payment was due was designed to bring about fear of the abyss and fear of the unknown to persuade people to vote "Yes".

I hope the left, the workers' movement and the people of Greece reject this blackmail, that they vote "No" and that Syriza uses that mandate to say they will not pay any more of this odious debt. They need to nationalise the banks and run them in the people's interests, not in the interests of the ECB. They need to implement credit controls to stop the attack from the markets and they need to redevelop their economy.

Most importantly, they need to appeal for support from around Europe. Clearly, they have support in Ireland and there will be a demonstration at 6 p.m. today and another on Saturday at noon with the Greek solidarity committee. That is the kind of support that will force the ECB to lift the shackles from the Greek people.

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