Speaking in the Dáil this afternoon on Statements on the European Council, Sinn Féin Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Padraig MacLochlainn claimed the EU is leading the Government ‘by the nose into an exploding economic depression’.
Deputy MacLochlainn said the Ireland’s debt burden should have been shared as responsibility for the crisis lies with Europe as much as with Ireland.
He said: “The EU is leading this Fine Gael/Labour government by the nose into an exploding economic depression. The policies they are following amount to little more than further de-regulation of labour markets, wage cuts, tax increases, and reductions in government spending.
“Elite policy makers across the EU are responsible for the Eurozone debt crisis and it is about time we stood up to them and told them that.”
The Donegal North East TD said Irish people are being asked to bear the burden of mistakes made by gamblers.
He added: “We are being told that we must socialize the losses, while the gains can continue to be privatized.
“The countries on the periphery of Europe – Ireland, Greece, Portugal and perhaps more to follow are being caught up in a European financial storm.
“Where is the solidarity from our large core European partners such as Germany and France?
“They have placed a savage and unbearable burden on our people, a burden that should have been shared because the responsibility for the crisis lies with Europe as much as Ireland. “They have kicked us while we are down and they have torn the stated objectives of the European project into tatters.
“I appeal to our Government to stand up against this injustice and to seek realistic and genuinely sustainable terms for our people. We are not alone. It is not too late.”
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