Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The so-called bailout is conditional on the acceptance of further pension cuts, savage spending cuts, VAT increases, €50 billion worth of further privatisations, more repossessions of homes and foreclosures on small businesses. This is in a country in which the level of poverty has increased by 98%, the child mortality rate has increased by 42%, pensions have been slashed by 45% and salaries have been cut by 40%. How can the Minister and his friends in the troika honestly say the Greek people must take more pain when they are being crushed?

How does the Minister respond to the allegation from the former Greek finance Minister that Ireland, along with a few other countries, was foremost in insisting that Greece and its people must accept more vicious austerity or get no assistance from Europe? That is a shameful betrayal of people who have been crushed. Mr. Varoufakis says that the reason Ireland took this position was fear of political embarrassment if the Greek people got any relief on debt and austerity.

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