Deputy Mary Lou McDonald - speech from 06 May 2020

The Covid-19 emergency has no doubt presented the people of Europe with an unprecedented crisis and challenge. The virus has attacked our societies, ravaged our economies and tested our communities in previously unimaginable ways. And despite the painful and cruel nature of this pandemic, the people of Europe have rallied. They've rallied and they have demonstrated, as you put it, Taoiseach, Europe as at its best. Solidarity, compassion, social justice. We have endured and we will endure. Not because of the worst of Europe, the worst being corporate greed, an aggressive, doctrinaire, neoliberal approach, vested interest, privatisation, the running down of social protections and workers' rights. No, Europe's people will thrive despite all of that. And it's incredible that a huge economic system and political systems globally brought to their knees by this deadly virus and yet the people prevail. And it is they who most effectively articulate what Europe is and what the European Union should be. You see Germans singing Bella Ciao, that great anthem of the Italian resistance in solidarity with their beleaguered Italian friends. You see Spaniards clapping their health workers on their way into work every night. And in households here, you see people placing candles in the window to honour all who have tragically lost their loved ones. That is the real measure and value of what should be the European project. Workers and families of the European Union share a common hope also for the future that the recovery which will surely follow must be fair and that progress is built as we emerge from this crisis with people, citizens and solidarity front and centre. You see, in the aftermath of this pandemic, we cannot perpetuate an economic system of winners and losers. We can't have a scenario where some profit from the pandemic while others are saddled with crushing debts from mortgages to rents and to utility bills. Ordinary people have to come first in this recovery. And this means also giving back to low-paid and frontline workers who managed to carry us all through this emergency. The essential workers of today cannot become the forgotten workers of tomorrow and to that end, a lot has been said about those who work in retail. Debenhams workers are outside the gate today, workers whose employer availed of this public health emergency to cast them aside, to dispense with their services. And the truth is that the government here did little or nothing to secure those jobs. It's astonishing. The Bank of Ireland is a minority shareholder in Debenhams and yet the government has sat on its hands. And it looks like Debenhams will get away scot-free and the workers are left high and dry. So perhaps we should start there, with that set of workers, to demonstrate what the new recovery and the new economic and social order might be. Ten years ago, the European Union was faced with a different crisis, a seismic economic recession as a result of the banking collapse. And at that time, it was faced with the real choice. It's the imposition of austerity that would punish workers, families and communities for the reckless gambling of bankers and financial speculators. Or the choice of building a recovery through investment and stimulus that would protect ordinary people and really kick-start economies. The European Union at that time chose austerity, which Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in government implemented with great relish. And the people of this state paid a very heavy price in the form of devastating cuts to services, soaring unemployment and staggering levels of emigration. The consequences of this austerity was severe hardship, particularly for low- and middle-income workers, whilst those at the top were insulated. Indeed, let it be said, many of them thrived in this savage environment. And that cannot happen again, Taoiseach. There can be no return to austerity in the wake of this emergency. And to that end, you noted that the fiscal rules within the European Union are currently suspended, but you also know, as outlined in black and white in the stability programme update, the spring update, this is only a temporary state of affairs. And the excessive deficit rules will apply again in the future, and the Irish people, as I've said, are all too well aware of what austerity looks like and how it feels from the time of the last crisis. The European Commission at that time and the European system was no great friend to Ireland or our people. And there are huge concerns now amongst workers and families that we are looking at a deja vu, a rerun of that scenario. And I listened to the Minister for Finance this morning, and I am very concerned. He suggested that financial supports for hundreds of thousands of workers will come to an end in June. That is an intolerable proposition. That's not acceptable, and I hope that you will confirm for the Dáil Taoiseach that that will not happen. The better way to manage this crisis is to take those decisions that serve the interests of workers and families. And this isn't pie in the sky before anyone dismisses it. This is actually about having the courage, the ambition, the political imagination to make better choices. It's also about doing the right thing. And no longer can our society be held back by the naysayers who say that a fair recovery and a more equal society isn't possible. Indeed, many of the things that you in Fine Gael and you in Fianna Fáil told us were impossible in the course of the recent election have been done in a few short weeks. Voila. All could be done, including a rent freeze, the thing that you railed against. The people of Ireland don't want to repeat of the lost decade. I would say to you they will not tolerate it. We now need a new vision for our society and our economy as we keep our place as proud Europeans, as proud global citizens, as people who care for ourselves, our families and for each other. The people of Ireland don't countries that say that we are