Jimmy Harte (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The situation in Europe is very fluid and worrying. I find it difficult to grasp what is happening. As Senator Mullins said, if different economists with doctorates from Harvard disagree on fundamental issues to do with Europe, it is very difficult for an ordinary citizen to discover what is really going on. I noted that this is the longest period in hundreds of years in which Europe has not been at war with itself and this is significant. The European Union, formerly the Common Market, was born out of the ashes of two world wars which claimed the lives of 17 million people in the First World War and approximately 25 million people in the Second World War. Europeans realised that European integration was important and that the biggest scourge for Europe was extreme nationalism which culminated in the Second World War when Hitler used Europe to further his aims.

Europe is now at a very serious financial crisis but the bigger picture shows that Europe is at peace, militarily but perhaps not financially. The generations who went before us suffered massive unemployment and also were the casualties of two wars. I remind the House that 7 million civilians died in the First World War. No matter how bad things are, one hundred years ago in 1911 the rumblings of the First World War were beginning and extreme nationalism took hold of Europe. It almost destroyed Europe and it destroyed many lives. This is a democracy and Ireland and this House should do everything to help ensure that Europe can live in peace.

As regards the immediate financial issue, people suggest that the bondholders should be burned and this is the mantra trotted out when it suits certain politicians-----