Does the Taoiseach accept that the debt crisis in Greece is about EU elites trying to force the Government of Greece into accepting an outcome that contravenes its electoral mandate? They want to Greek Government to do what Fine Gael and the Labour Party did. They tore up their mandate, reneged on their election promises and undermined the people's right to assert democratic control over decisions which affect our lives.

We saved the country €30 billion.

This is the major question facing all EU citizens, including Irish citizens. Do citizens have the right to assert democratic control over decisions that affect our lives? The Taoiseach clearly does not believe so. This is at the heart of the crisis in Greece and is also a major issue here. This is why it does not suit the Taoiseach to have a government in Greece that proposes alternatives to the austerity policies which have increased inequality in many EU states, including Ireland. The water charges, a Fianna Fáil idea, to give it credit, is part of this, as is forced emigration, inequality, child poverty, a low-wage economy, the lack of social housing and the run-down of public services.

Is Deputy Adams an expert in equality?

The Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar, has admitted the health service needs another €1 billion just to meet existing demand. Will the Taoiseach supply this? Of course he will not. However, he will impose the repayment of €181 billion in debt created by his friends in the golden circle and the greed of the elites at the expense of Irish people for generations to come. The Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, admits that there are not enough hospital beds to cater for ill citizens, which we have always known.

I have been saying it for the past four years.

Will the Taoiseach accept that this is the price he is forcing our people to pay, and expects the people of Greece to pay, because he kowtows to a right-wing ideology and is, shamefully, uncritical and subservient to Brussels?

Deputy Adams's great idea was to send them home, and their money with them.

I profoundly disagree with the Deputy’s comments. The situation is as I outlined yesterday. The democratically elected Prime Minister of Greece has come to the European Council on a number of occasions during recent weeks and has outlined, both for the European Council and the leaders of the eurozone, his vision for his country, as he is entitled to do. He said, in respect of generating social consent in Greece, that he has to deal with corruption, structural changes, an infrastructure package, becoming competitive and implementing a taxation system that works. The party sent a member to Sinn Féin's conference in Derry, indicating where Sinn Féin is headed in respect of delivering for Ireland. I profoundly disagree with it. I would not expect the citizens of this country would have anything to do with a situation such as that which, unfortunately, obtains in Greece. We have great empathy with the people who are struggling outside closed banks.

The Taoiseach has no empathy.

He would throw them under a bus.

The Greek Government is entitled to call a referendum and allow the people to decide on what the question might be. Unfortunately, the deal was not on the table to be part of the referendum.

That is because the Taoiseach whipped it off the table.

Papers have been exchanged and there will be a further conference call with the Ministers for Finance of the eurozone at 4.30 p.m. and, perhaps, progress might be made. Politicians in Greece have commented that the referendum may not be held. If it is held, it must be a question of whether the citizens of Greece wish to remain part of the EU and eurozone.

This is bullying.

They want bread on the table.

Apparently, it is the case. Unfortunately, the negotiators at Saturday's eurozone meeting were called away abruptly without concluding the debates. Deputy Adams has experience of what it means to do that and also knows from experience that the place to settle such differences is at the table. I am glad there has been movement from the Greek Government and that there is a reciprocal acceptance of consideration of what they are taking about. The overriding issue is for the Greek Government to tell its citizens the referendum is to take place on Sunday. Who knows what may happen with the current discussions with the eurozone Ministers for Finance later this afternoon and, possibly, later this week. It is a state of considerable flux. The ordinary people of Greece are suffering great hardship due to the failure to negotiate politically.

They have been suffering for seven years.

The institutions and leaders of the EU and the eurozone are more than willing to support, in whatever way possible, the citizens of Greece so they can realise their aspiration of being part of the eurozone, getting out of the recession and introducing the changes about which the Prime Minister spoke eloquently at the meeting in Brussels on Friday and on the previous Monday.

I asked whether citizens had the right to assert democratic control over decisions which affect our lives, and the Taoiseach dodged the question and gave us his usual Rambles in Éirinn type of non-answer. The Greek Government is negotiating, but how would the Taoiseach know? It is doing something he never did, namely, trying to negotiate on behalf of the people who gave it a mandate.

Hear, hear.

It is going well, is it not?

I have, as the Taoiseach noted, some experience of negotiation.

How are the negotiations going?

Let us try to get to the bottom of why the Taoiseach holds to his position. The decades of corruption and economic mismanagement of Greece are the disastrous legacy of successive Governments with which the Taoiseach's Government has been closely associated.

Ideology will not solve it.

The Government which the Greek people rejected was led by New Democracy, which is a sister party of Fine Gael in the European Parliament.

The economy was growing while it was in government.

The other component of that coalition Government was Pasok, the party which implemented the original Greek bailout and a sister party of the Irish Labour Party. The two governing parties in this State are inexplicably linked to the parties in power in Greece when the problems in its economy were created as a result of corruption and a lack of regulation. Does that not sound familiar?

A question, please.

Did Fine Gael or Labour Party Members ever speak to their Greek counterparts about the disastrous policies which crashed the Greek economy? If they have not done so, is it not the case that the Taoiseach's current posturing on the new Greek Government, which has already started to implement a programme of genuine and widespread reform of the Greek economy, amounts to rank hypocrisy? Will the Taoiseach answer the fundamental question at the root of the ongoing struggles, namely, whether people have the right to assert democratic control over decisions which affect their lives?

The answer to the Deputy's last question is "Yes". In this country the people made that decision and the Government they elected will be judged on whether we fulfilled our mandate to fix the public finances and put our country back to work. That is the essence of democracy. Citizens' votes elect and change Governments, and that is their absolute right.

It is more than that.

In regard to the Deputy's comments on the negotiations, I was at the meetings on the Stormont House Agreement. Deputy Adams raised a racket, as he normally does, which is fine.

The Taoiseach certainly did not raise a racket.

He sat there like a lapdog.

Afterwards, his party's acceptance of the deal was advertised in its own literature during the election process and Deputy Adams stated that the agreement must be implemented in full. However, he subsequently decided that the agreement no longer suited him and he rejected it. I would call that rank hypocrisy.

I would call that untrue.

He was found out.

I see a coalition in the making.

The shape of the next Government is emerging.

That rank hypocrisy will be squared by the gentleman who spoke a moment ago given what he did with his friends.

The alternative.

Prime Minister Samaras brought in a primary surplus, was approaching 1% growth for Greece and was able to get back to the international markets to borrow money. What has happened now? People said they would abolish all property charges, water charges and everything else, and would pay for nothing. Now it has gone back beyond where it was. The problem is that, unfortunately, the ordinary people are now outside the closed banks and cannot withdraw money. Pensioners were told they would be able to withdraw money but they are unable to do so. They cannot get back to the international markets and the good and honourable name of Greece that was built up over the years is being torn down by the failure to negotiate. I would say to the Prime Minister in Greece that it is time to follow through on the papers that are now the subject of a conference call this evening at 4.30 p.m. There is time and a way to deal with this rather than have the 11 million citizens of that historic country done down by politics.

Three million of them are in poverty thanks to the Taoiseach's friends.

It is because of following Sinn Féin policies.

The answer to Deputy Adams's question is "Yes". People's votes decide who is elected and who is thrown out. That is the way it should be. In this case, the mandate is not achievable because of the failure of the Greek Government to sit at the table and work it out. I hope that can happen in the next few days.