I assume the Taoiseach will not be joining the Anti-Austerity Alliance in sending heartiest congratulations to Syriza and to the millions of unemployed workers and oppressed people of Greece who have elected it to power. I make this assumption because of his lacklustre response to the election of the first anti-austerity government in Europe. His remarks about Europe drifting to populism puts him at odds once again with the working class people of this country who shouldered the debt burden he foisted on their shoulders and who are delighted to see that the debt issue is being placed centre stage once again. People wonder exactly whose side the Taoiseach is on.

The Taoiseach and his Government have been at pains to create a distance between Ireland and Greece. The Tánaiste was at it again last night on television. Rather than showing solidarity over the years with the other bullied pupils in the troika classroom, they joined in their mockery, with even the Minister for Finance making snide remarks about feta cheese two years ago. Why have they consistently lined up with the right-wing austerity governments of Europe rather than with the poor people of Greece who have been reduced to scavenging in dustbins and for leftovers in fruit markets for food?

That is what they would be doing if you were in government.

Why is the Taoiseach more at home with the global elites and the billionaires representing the 1% who gathered in Davos and with whom he rubs shoulders each year?

Nationalised debts.

Why did he immediately reject the idea of a debt conference, as raised by Syriza? Surely that would be an opportunity to outline the injustice of the savage austerity imposed on the people of Ireland, Greece, Spain, etc. It would be a chance to show how all of this was done to salvage the rule of the international banks and tycoons. It would be an opportunity to audit wealth and separate out the odious bank debt that was heaped on workers and the unemployed throughout Europe.

Does the Taoiseach agree that if the troika does not agree to dramatically write down the debts of Greece and Ireland we should refuse to pay those debts, that this is not our debt and that the €8 billion we will be forced to pay this year would be better put into our public services?

What about the rest?

Will he now call on the IMF and the European elites to respect the mandate given to Syriza?

Well done, Joe.

Order, please.

Will he and the Labour Party take note of the fate that befell other parties that made excuses about why they had to impose these debts on people? I refer to parties such as PASOK, which has now been annihilated. Will he also recognise that what is coming down the line with the potential election of Podemos in Spain will be reflected in Ireland if he continues with the hated water charges he is trying to foist on the population? Will he accept that this will be reflected in Ireland? The Anti-Austerity Alliance will work to ensure that the radicalisation and politicisation of people who are fighting the water charges will be reflected with anti-austerity candidates in every constituency to take on the likes of his party.

The place for negotiation in respect of concessions or changes to the regime that is imposed on any country is at the European Council and various Councils of Ministers. In the case of Ireland, when this Government was elected we were told repeatedly, by the Fianna Fáil Party in particular, that one would not be able to change the troika programme as laid out. However, because the Government set out a strategy for constructive engagement, we were able to deal with promissory notes, interest rate reductions, changes in the programme such as a reduction in VAT, the use of the proceeds of any sale of a State asset for sustainable employment, and so on. That has amounted to €50 billion in structural changes over the next ten years. This would not have been possible if there had not been the capacity to negotiate with our colleagues at a European level. We have chosen that path and we are in a very different place from where we were three and a half years ago, given the low interest rates at which we can now borrow and the changes taking place in Ireland.

I do not think any other country has been able to negotiate a deal such as the one whereby Ireland has been approved by everybody for a buy-out of the €18 billion IMF loans-----

We will get a halo for you.

-----or has been able to deal with the situation as far as promissory notes are concerned for many years ahead.

I have sent a message of congratulations to the Greek Prime Minister and wish him and the cabinet he is appointing today well. I look forward to working with him at the European Council which will take place, I understand, in the next fortnight. Our economies are very different and Ireland is being held out as a country that is making real progress. In Davos last week we were described as being in a fragile position, and one in which there is no room for any kind of complacency in respect of the path we are now on.

He is looking for a new coalition partner.

The places to make arrangements for negotiations on debt and structural changes are the ECOFIN meetings, European meetings with various Councils and the European Council. Ireland has proven to be remarkably successful to date, and we intend to continue that. We understand the scale of the challenges facing the people of Greece, such as the unemployment rate of 25%, which is as high as 50% among young people, and the enormous scale of its debt. I wish the Prime Minister and his new Cabinet well. They face daunting challenges and there is no doubt they will engage - constructively, it is to be hoped - with the European authorities in the days and weeks ahead.

Stretching the debt over a long period of time will not reduce it. It will, in fact, increase it. Everybody knows that if one extends a mortgage it simply means one pays more. All that the Government has achieved is to put the burden on children who have not yet been born. In contrast, at least Syriza has raised the prospect that a totally unsustainable debt, which was foisted on the people of Greece and Ireland, could be challenged in some way, something the Taoiseach and his Government have failed to do in any way whatsoever.

That is not true.

It is quite incredible that the Taoiseach does not seem to realise that last weekend in Davos he lined up with the wealthy and vested interests. Amazingly, there were flags flying at half mast for a Saudi tyrant, yet he was very lukewarm about the election of the first anti-austerity regime in Europe.

Human rights.

Can we have order, please?

Syriza has shown up the complete failure of the Labour Party and Fine Gael to stick by their pre-election promises of burning bondholders, with slogans such as "It's Labour's way or Frankfurt's way." They have been found out by a left-wing government in Greece which will stick to its promises, refuse to accept debt being placed on the shoulders of working class people and demand that the wealth in society be shared to alleviate the burden on workers and the unemployed in Greece, Ireland, Spain and other countries.

As I said, we have been able to renegotiate changes to the value of €50 billion in the case of Ireland, so it is not true to say that nothing has been done.

Where has that come from? Explain the €50 billion.

That all happened because we chose the path of engaging constructively with the institutions at a European level. While the private sector was involved in the debt restructuring in Greece in 2012, that was because of the scale of its debt, at 175% of GDP. Ireland's peaked at 123% and has now fallen to 111%, and will fall rapidly in the time ahead.

The overall debt here is bigger than Greece's.

The banking expert.

Our burden has been helped significantly by the policies adopted and approved by our European colleagues in respect of the lengthening of the maturities for the EFSF and EFSM debt, the reduction in interests rates on that debt, the promissory note deal and the facilitation of the buying out of IMF loans of €18 billion.

What about household and private debt?

All of these have meant that our interest rates have fallen drastically and are now at an average of about 1.25%. Ireland is seen as a good and safe place to invest in, and from that point of view the Government is focused on continuing to keep our public finances in order, creating jobs and providing opportunities for our people.

One of the implications of the ECB decision on quantitative easing last week was the extra benefit Ireland now offers in the hospitality sector, particularly to people from Britain and the United States. The cost of money for business is lower and there is extra credit. It is to be hoped that, in respect of banks, there will lower charges for consumers. We will continue to engage at an international level in a way that has proven to be a record for us. I will be happy to engage with the Greek Prime Minister and his people in respect of how Ireland has been able to achieve that.

We are at a point where the economy is strengthening but it is still fragile.

Have the debt conference over here.

Give him a lesson.

It needs another three to five years of stability in order to have the benefits felt by everybody in the country.

He is giving a lecture.

That is our focus. I wish the new Greek Government and its prime minister very well in an unprecedented and challenging position for him and his people.