Results 24,341-24,360 of 26,986 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

European Communities (Amendnment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I say to Deputy White that we want something new. We want an alternative strategy because the one that is being pursued is not working.

European Communities (Amendnment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: If the catastrophes that have been inflicted on this country and on the Greek people as a result of austerity have not woken the Government up to the fact that austerity is not working and that this approach to the crisis is not working, perhaps the Spanish crisis will now wake the Government up to that fact. The hole in the Spanish banks is likely to be anywhere between €100 billion and...

European Communities (Amendnment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: When will we stop bailing out the banks and start to adopt a different approach where we prioritise people, jobs, economic growth and employment? The Government defends its position by saying that at least there is talk in Europe now of there being assistance to the banks that will not be channelled through the sovereign and will not be unloaded onto the backs of ordinary citizens and the...

European Communities (Amendnment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: At what point will the Government get it? It has taken the best boy in the class routine to the most extreme lengths in pushing through this treaty when other forces in Europe are at least delaying it or beginning to question Mrs. Merkel's strategy. The Government continues with the best boy in the class routine and only a few days after this country passed the fiscal treaty, Mrs. Merkel...

European Communities (Amendnment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Yes, and now it is the ESM, which is not being discussed properly. The Government wants to ram it through to prove again to Mrs. Angela Merkel what good boys and girls we are. There will be no discussion on it despite the fact the ESM has profound implications. Throughout the referendum debate the Government presented the ESM as if it was some sort of benevolent fund which was there to...

European Communities (Amendnment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I accept the fiscal treaty was discussed at length. The Government won the debate. There is no question about that - through fear in my opinion - but the Government did win the debate. However, it is dishonest to suggest there has been a full public discussion of the serious issues that arise out of the ESM because it is not just a benevolent fund. It raises serious questions about the...

European Communities (Amendnment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I apologise. I did not know. It is wrong to railroad this legislation through the House in just a few hours. The Government should allow for a proper debate. Instead, this is a continuation of the sucking up to Angela Merkel despite the fact that no matter how much the Government does so, she slaps it down and humiliates it. She is giving it nothing. When will the Government realise...

Private Members' Business. Building Control Regulations: Motion (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The situation faced by those in Priory Hall and Belmayne and those whose houses were constructed with material containing pyrite is appalling. This is not just about the tragic effects that has had on the residents, although the motion asks the Government to declare it will take the lead in providing the resources necessary to undertake the remedial works or transfers necessary to house...

European Communities (Amendnment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I had planned to say certain things but I must respond to Deputy White.

European Communities (Amendnment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The idea that it was the arguments of the "No" side that led to the passing of the referendum is an interesting analysis. It gives little credit to the arguments of the "Yes" side and is not borne out by the facts. The polls showed that the percentages on the "Yes" and "No" sides did not shift from the beginning of the campaign to the end. It looks as though the arguments pretty much...

European Communities (Amendnment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I will get to that.

European Communities (Amendnment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The "Yes" posters emblazoned investment and recovery and stability. Certainty was a slogan. That was a fairytale. There is no stability.

European Communities (Amendnment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: We do not promise stability, at least not in the short run. The Government should not have promised it, but having promised stability, it should deliver it. One would have to be living in a parallel universe to imagine that a decision taken last Thursday or the rushing through of the ESM would lead to stability. Can Deputy Durkan stand over that? There is rampant and well-founded...

European Communities (Amendnment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: There is a widespread belief that if Greece exits, as a result of being bullied out of the eurozone because it is not willing to accept more of the poisonous austerity that has done such damage, the result will be catastrophic for the wider eurozone and could spell the beginning of the end of the eurozone. That is very likely. It is also likely that a Greek exit would tip the eurozone...

European Communities (Amendnment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Certainty was repeated again and again. We do not have certainty of funding. There is no security.

European Communities (Amendnment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Of course Deputy Durkan is upset.

European Communities (Amendnment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: He does not like being disagreed with. I understand that. He will have his chance.

European Communities (Amendnment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I remind Deputy White that the United Left Alliance clearly set out an alternative. Sooner or later that alternative will be debated, when the austerity agenda crashes further into crisis, as it is destined to do and as the foundations of the eurozone are shaken further by the disastrous strategy being pursued by Angela Merkel.

European Communities (Amendnment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Absolutely, and I will say it again: default, default, default.

European Communities (Amendnment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (6 Jun 2012)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Deputy Durkan's sound economics-----