Greece is in a state of humanitarian and economic catastrophe. It is in that state because of the austerity imposed by the troika and implemented by New Democracy and PASOK. Wages have fallen by 37%, public sector employment by over 25% and pensions by almost 50%. The result is an explosion of homelessness, unemployment, suicide, poverty and misery for the Greek people, and an economy that has shrunk by almost a third.

The purpose of this austerity, like our own, was to bail out German and French banks. Of all of the so-called bailout funds that went into Greece, less than 10% has gone into the Greek economy. It is for that reason that the Greek debt truth committee, set up by the Greek Parliament, has found the debt to the troika to be illegal, illegitimate and odious. In response, Syriza was elected to tackle the humanitarian crisis, to end austerity and to demand a debt write-down. The response from the EU authorities has been to try to strangle at birth the hopes of a different Europe, of a Europe that would not be run for the millionaires but instead would be run for the millions. The democratic wishes of the Greek people, expressed in an election, have been casually tossed aside by those authorities.

A key player in this has been the unelected, unaccountable European Central Bank, which previously held a gun to the head of the Irish Government, demanding that we go into a bailout and that bondholders not be burned. It has a noose around the neck of the Greek economy in the form of restricted access to ECB funding for Greek banks, and it is using that noose to threaten the collapse of the Greek banks in order to demand the humiliation of the Greek Government.

A question, please.

What did the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, say about this noose yesterday? He lined up with the German Minister for Finance, Wolfgang Schäuble, and said, "Tighten the noose."

The Deputy is over time.

He said, "Tighten the noose. Don't give them any more money. Demand their humiliation." Is that the Government position? He stabbed the Greek people in the chest and, in so doing, he stabbed the Irish people in the back. Would the Taoiseach agree that he and his Government are putting their own party interests - the same party as Merkel, as Juncker, as Samaras, as Rajoy - ahead of the interests of the people in this country, or anywhere else in Europe, that he is against debt write-down for the Greeks, that he is against an end to austerity for the Greeks-----

Sorry, Deputy. You are way over time.

That is not because it is not in the interest of people in this country, but because it would not be in the interest of his party, whereas we, on the contrary - the 99% in this country - share the same interest as the 99% in Greece in debt write-down and an end to austerity.

I reject the Deputy's speculative comments on leaks from the Eurogroup. The Minister for Finance has been consistently very clear in his support for growth-related proposals from Greece. I attended the meeting last night with the Prime Minister and other leaders from the eurozone countries. The feeling at the meeting was unanimous that there should not be, under any circumstances, an exit by Greece from the eurozone. Leaders, as they have done previously, were very clear in their support, encouragement and assistance for the Greek Prime Minister and his Government.

The Prime Minister spoke very positively about the current situation and said the new proposals on the table from Greece went very much in the right direction towards meeting the principles, objectives and targets set by the institutions. Clearly, there is a gap between them at the moment but the Prime Minister was very clear that it is his intention to be able to come to a conclusion on these negotiations this week so that the matter can be dealt with and Greece can continue to be a strong member of the eurozone. He referred to pensions, early retirement, reduction of debt and the issues his Government had put on the table. The institutions responded to that in a way that today and tonight, in respect of the both the principals of the institutions and two Government Ministers from Greece, conference calls, as necessary, be put in place so that discussions can conclude on this matter.

The outcome of this has to be fair, make economic sense and be sustainable from a financial point of view. The Prime Minister was very clear that he wants his country to be able to pay its way and contribute but under no circumstances to leave the eurozone. The Deputy wants to continue speculating, which is his prerogative. I will give him a direct report from the meeting of all of the leaders of the countries in the eurozone, including the contribution from the Prime Minister of Greece and his summing up afterwards. Everybody hopes that this matter can be dealt with by the weekend.

The Taoiseach referred to speculative comments. I will quote from the Financial Times, which stated: "Germany's Wolfgang Schaeuble and Michael Noonan, his Irish counterpart, pushed for curbs on emergency liquidity for Greek banks unless capital controls were imposed, one of the officials said." Translated, that means: "Tighten the noose. Make them scream. Bring them to their knees. Humiliate them." I ask the Taoiseach to conform to what he said a couple of weeks ago, that is, answering questions fully and completely. Is that the position of the Irish Government? It is attempting to put pressure on the ECB, a supposedly independent institution, to squeeze the Greeks further in order to pressurise them into doing a deal which is not one they want to do.

I remind the Taoiseach of June 2012 when he and the then Tánaiste, like Chamberlain declaring, "Peace in our time", announced there had been a seismic shift and that we would get a deal on debt. That has since been quietly shelved and instead the Irish Government, along with Germany, has joined the chorus that there will be no debt write-offs. It is in the interests of working people, the majority in this country, that Greece gets a debt write-down and that we join with the Greeks and demand a debt write-down for all of the unsustainable debt. Why does the Taoiseach persist in backing the Angela Merkel pro-austerity line so he can get a few more pats on the head?

I again reject the Deputy's assertions regarding any comments made by the Minister for Finance at the Eurogroup meeting.

So he did not say that.

One should not believe everything one reads in the Financial Times. That is the message. The ECB is completely independent of Governments. It has given €87 billion in emergency liquidity to Greece. Mr. Draghi said given its independence, because it is a eurozone, ELA has been continued on the assumption that negotiations would conclude and a deal can be done. That is why, as the programme ends this weekend, it is very important that the principals of the institutions discuss in a rational way with the representatives of the Government of Greece the conclusion that is necessary.

The Prime Minister said not everything about his Government is absolutely positive. He said his Government is in a position to achieve social consent, which is an important element given that the consequences of a collapse could be very serious. I do not expect that to happen. All of the leaders at the meeting were unanimous in that regard. I expect there will be another meeting of the Eurogroup Ministers for Finance tomorrow evening, which may go on for some time, and there is a European Council meeting on Thursday and Friday. It may not be necessary to get that far but when arrangements like this are put in place, they have to be endorsed by, for example, the Parliaments of Finland-----

Is there any chance the Taoiseach could answer the question?

-----the Netherlands or Germany. There is, therefore, a need to structure things in a way that will allow for the bailout and bailout programme to end positively. I hope the discussions that take place with the institutions and Government of Greece can have a positive outcome.

The Prime Minister has been elected and has a mandate from his Government. Like all of these things, this requires discussion and negotiation. We hope, in everybody's interests, that can be concluded positively.