Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Covid-19 emergency has presented the people of Europe with an unprecedented crisis and challenge. The virus has attacked our societies, ravaged our economies and tested our communities in previously unimaginable ways. Despite the painful and cruel nature of this pandemic the people of Europe have rallied and demonstrated, as the Taoiseach put it, Europe at its best. There is solidarity, compassion and social justice. We have endured and we will endure, not because of the worst of Europe, which is corporate greed, an aggressive, doctrinaire neo-liberal approach, vested interests, privatisation, and the running down of social protections and workers' rights. Europe's people will thrive despite all of that.

It is incredible that a huge economic system and political systems globally have been brought to their knees by this deadly virus, yet the people prevail. It is they who most effectively articulate what Europe is and what the European Union should be. We see Germans singing "Bella Ciao", that great anthem of the Italian resistance, in solidarity with their beleaguered Italian friends. We see Spaniards clapping their health workers on their way into work every night. In households here, we see people placing candles in their windows to honour all who have tragically lost their loved ones. That is the real measure and value of what the European project should be.

Workers and families in the European Union also share a common hope for the future that the recovery, which will surely follow, must be fair and that progress will be built as we emerge from this crisis with people, citizens and solidarity front and centre. In the aftermath of this pandemic, we cannot perpetuate an economic system of winners and losers. We cannot have a scenario where some profit from the pandemic while others are saddled with crushing debts from mortgages, rents and utility bills. Ordinary people must come first in this recovery. This also means giving back to low-paid and front-line workers who managed to carry us all through this emergency. Caithfidh gnáthdhaoine a bheith chun tosaigh san am seo. Ní féidir leis na hoibrithe riachtanacha inniu a bheith ina n-oibrithe dearmadta amárach. The essential workers of today cannot become the forgotten workers of tomorrow. Much has been said in this regard about those who work in retail. Debenhams workers are outside the gate today. These are workers whose employer availed of this public health emergency to cast them aside and dispense with their services. The truth is that the Government did little or nothing to secure those jobs. It is astonishing. Bank of Ireland is a minority shareholder in Debenhams, yet the Government has sat on its hands. It looks like Debenhams will get off scot-free and the workers are left high and dry. Perhaps we should start there, with that set of workers, to demonstrate what the new recovery and new economic and social order might be.

Ten years ago, the European Union was faced with a different crisis, a seismic economic recession as a result of the banking collapse. At that time, it was faced with a real choice between the imposition of austerity that would punish workers, families and communities for the reckless gambling of bankers and financial speculators and building a recovery through investment and stimulus that would protect ordinary people and really kick-start economies.

The EU at the time chose austerity, which Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in government implemented with great relish. The people of this State paid a very heavy price in the form of devastating cuts to services, soaring unemployment and staggering levels of emigration. The consequences of this austerity were severe hardship, particularly for low and middle-income workers, while those at the top were insulated. Indeed, many of them thrived in this savage environment and that cannot happen again. There can be no return to austerity in the wake of this emergency. To that end, the Taoiseach noted that the fiscal rules within the EU are currently suspended but he will also know, as outlined in black and white in the spring stability programme update, that this is only a temporary state of affairs and the excessive deficit rules will apply again in the future. The Irish people are all too aware of what austerity looks like and how it feels from the time of the previous crisis. The European Commission at that time and the European system was no great friend to Ireland or our people.

There are huge concerns now among workers and families that we are looking at déjà vu, a re-run of that scenario. I listened to the Minister for Finance this morning and I am very concerned. He suggested that financial supports for hundreds of thousands of workers will come to an end in June. That is an intolerable and unacceptable proposition and I hope the Taoiseach will confirm for the House that it will not happen.

The better way to manage this crisis is to take those decisions that serve the interests of workers and families. This is not pie in the sky, before anyone dismisses it. This is about having the courage, ambition and political imagination to make better choices. It is also about doing the right thing. No longer can our society be held back by the naysayers who say a fair recovery and a more equal society are not possible. Many of the things that those in Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil told us were impossible in the course of the recent general election have been done in a few short weeks. Voilà- all of it could be done, including a rent freeze, the thing they railed against. The people do not want a repeat of the lost decade and will not tolerate it. We now need a new vision for our society and our economy as we keep our place as proud Europeans, proud global citizens and people who care for ourselves, our families and each other.

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