Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not accept that at all. The agreement concerns the matter of fundamentally rebuilding trust between the authorities in Greece and the 18 other member states of the euro area. In this regard, I urge the Greek authorities to keep their commitments and to legislate without delay - as I understand they are doing - on the first set of trust-building measures. I believe it is important that this Parliament and other parliaments in the eurozone and the EU acknowledge a fact with which the Deputy seems to have a difficulty, namely that Greece is a sovereign state. It is for Greece to decide whether it wishes to accept the financial aid package offered by its European partners or take another course. I believe there has always been a willingness to negotiate a way forward which takes account of the realities of the situation in Greece and the political priorities of its new Government. I note that the new Greek finance Minister has received no mention from Deputy Boyd Barrett. The Deputy was obviously very much a fan and supporter of his predecessor.

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