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

I also welcome that events are not, as one previous speaker noted, being "played out on the streets" of Northern Ireland in the way they used to be. Unfortunately, the agreement signed in Stormont is called A Fresh Start: The Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan but it is not a fresh start for the ordinary people of Northern Ireland. It is a continuation of the sectarian politics that has dominated the North for decades and it is also an acceleration of austerity in the North. This merits much discussion and examination for people in the South as well. For example, it is bad news for working class people as the agreement would implement austerity and a range of cuts in welfare and other departments by the two big parties. It is also a shifting of the economy more towards profit of multinationals, with a massive cut in corporation tax that has been argued for by the Northern Ireland Assembly. I make these points for the Taoiseach's comment.

With regard to the resignation of Mr. Peter Robinson, he is an example of the type of politician who has been part of the problem in Northern Ireland and not the solution. He is somebody who has blocked marriage equality most recently, and social progress, colluding with other parties to prevent, for example, women having the right to control their bodies, as the Abortion Act 1967 was not extended to the North. He stoked up sectarianism not long ago: the flags issue was quite recent and well documented. Other key parties have space in one community and politics has been reduced to a sectarian head count. That is still the case.

It is a credit to ordinary working class people, both Catholic and Protestant, that they will not allow the region to go back to the Troubles of the past. It is worth noting that the trade union movement is still probably the only organisation where Catholic and Protestant people organise together. I raise the warning that although the Troubles are gone, unfortunately sectarianism has not gone away and there has been an increase in the separation between the two communities. That is well documented if one visits the North. We need a new generation of political representatives who will build unity among ordinary people rather than sowing or fomenting division.

The other key element of the Stormont agreement is the massive austerity programme that has been accepted by the parties in the North to be implemented in conjunction with the slashing of corporation tax. This austerity agreement represents a turning point because lines have been crossed, including by Sinn Féin. The party stated it would not cross those lines and that core payments in social welfare would be protected. It is a warning to those placing hopes in Sinn Féin in the South for the next election.

Let us call these cuts what they are; we cannot just call them "reforms" when it suits. The welfare cuts that have been agreed for implementation will mean an estimated 20,000 job cuts in the public sector. It also means benefits will be cut and day centres etc. will close. The cut in corporation tax equates to another massive hand-out to big business while ordinary people experience cuts in their living standards. That is the reality of the agreement. The cushion money being touted of £585 million over four years also has to cushion the effect of tax credits, defence and other areas, so it is not solely to protect people suffering welfare cuts. The money will last for four years but with the last agreement it was to last for six years. There is less money in this agreement to bulwark against austerity than there was in the previous agreement. Northern Ireland workers will also lose £110 million from tax credits being introduced.

This "fresh start" includes recommendations for cost reduction targets in nine departments. It includes the phrase "structural reforms" to take place-----

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