Bairbre de Brún (GUE/NGL). – (GA) Madam President, what kind of thinking brings the Council and the Commission to believe that the policies imposed on Ireland will not increase debt or that this will not be the result of the implementation of those or similar policies across the EU?

The measures agreed at the summit will force all Member States to be confined to an economic logic that is to the detriment of the people - a logic in which cuts are necessary and which deprives Member States of the ability to promote growth.

The policies being imposed on Ireland by the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mean savage cuts, loss of jobs, and a significant reduction in public services. Ireland’s debt burden is not sustainable. Unless bondholders are made to shoulder some of the deficit burden, Ireland will default in the future.