Richard Boyd Barrett TD for the People Before Profit Alliance-ULA will today challenge the EU-ECB-IMF “Troika” over the increased poverty, suffering and economic damage caused by their austerity programme at special meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance and Public Expenditure & Reform, at which the Troika representatives will attend.
The meeting commenced at 2pm today and is expected to run for several hours.
Deputy Boyd Barrett, who is Finance spokesperson for People Before Profit-ULA and a member of the Finance Committee said: “The Troika need to be seriously challenged over their definition of “success” when it comes to the so-called “stability” programme for Ireland. How can they define as success a programme that is leading directly to more unemployment, emigration, poverty and suffering for ordinary people. You really have to wonder do ordinary human beings figure at all in the reckoning of these Troika austerity merchants.”
“The European Anti-Poverty Network, for example, has shown recently in their submission to the Troika how the austerity programme has directly contributed to increased unemployment, poverty and social inequality. It just beggars belief that the Troika can talk about “success” and “stability” in this context. It is absolutely clear that the austerity programme has devastated the domestic economy by depressing demand and that this in turn is seriously hampering any prospect of economic growth reviving to the level that would help the country get out of its current dire economic straits.
The stupidity of their agenda is even more apparent, when it is now becoming increasingly clear that austerity policies being demand by the EU authorities in other European countries are now leading to recession across Europe, which will in turn choke off any chance of Ireland having an export-led recovery. Europe is our biggest trading partner. If austerity depresses demand in Europe – as it is doing – and thus chokes off our export markets, and at the same time our domestic economy is being strangled, we are heading towards economic and social disaster.”
