Paul Bradford (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and I am glad he is an advocate of the man and woman on the street and his or her views. I wonder what are the views on the man on the street in Athens today following Sunday's referendum. I debated this matter with the Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Harris, in the House last week, and while neither of us put our political prediction hats on, both of us deep down suspected that the Greek people would see fit to come round to the conventional world view of Greece and vote "Yes", but they surprised us and much of the EU and took a democratic decision to vote "No". It is not a decision we may have desired but that was the result of the referendum. As we speak, much bigger and more serious and senior discussions are taking place elsewhere between eurozone finance Ministers and eurozone leaders and, hopefully, during the next few hours and days, a solution will be put together to allow Greece to remain in the eurozone and to allow the ongoing work of the European project to continue. It would be a complete and utter economic and political disaster for the eurozone and the EU itself if Greece was forced out of the eurozone. I would be the first to concede that the management of the Greek economy by previous Greek Governments left much to be desired. The current Greek Government, having been swept to power on a wave of euphoria, dreams and promises a few months ago, has also taken unhelpful economic action. Hopefully however, arising from what it believes to be a mandate from its referendum on Sunday, it might see common sense.

The Irish government and other governments in the eurozone, as well as in the broader European Union, must be seen to work with and for a Greek solution. It may be necessary to swallow some political pride. We all know the reality of the politics of the situation. Certain countries do not want to see a win for Syriza. As a political "saddo" who watches all parties’ Ard-Fheiseanna, I was not impressed to see the now Greek finance Minister speak at Sinn Féin Ard-Fheis several months ago, highlighting the links and similarities between Sinn Féin’s and Syriza's policies. That is politics but we must move beyond this to ensure the misery faced by the people of Greece is dealt with.

Wild promises continued to be made right up until the last moment of the referendum campaign. The outgoing finance Minister said that, regardless of the referendum result, the Greek banks would be open on the following Monday and Tuesday and a solution found within 48 hours. Again, that was being overly optimistic. It is essential, however, we park the politics and look at the bigger picture to devise a workable solution.

From an Irish perspective, rather than following we should be leading. There was a time when Irish foreign policy had a strong moral dimension to it. It was one in which Ireland felt obliged, because of our colonial history, to side with the underdog, forming alliances with smaller nations. It appears now, however, that in the European Union, and in particular the eurozone, we take our leads not from the smaller countries but the more powerful. We need to work with all of our colleagues on the European stage, large and small.

Not only is there an opportunity but there is an obligation on us to be one of the countries advocating for concessions towards Greece. The Minister of State can argue about the cost to Ireland. However, what will be the cost to Ireland if Greece does exit the eurozone? What is the cost if it has a contagion effect on our nearest neighbour, the UK, and impacts on its forthcoming European referendum? We must not just be thinking in the political short term but look towards the medium and long-term necessity of keeping the eurozone strong.

I appreciate there are evolving negotiations taking place on the whole issue. What is the Government’s current thinking on the matter?