Irish Labour Party : Costello welcomes European Parliament move to hold Troika to account

14 January 2014

Dublin Labour MEP, Emer Costello has welcomed the European Parliament's inquiry into the actions of the Troika in the four programme countries, including Ireland.

Speaking from Strasbourg ahead of a series of hearings with Commissioner Ollie Rehn, Jean Claude Trichet, former Governor of the European Central Bank and Klaus Regling, Director of the European Stability Mechanism, Costello said that the Troika's actions in Programme Countries had no democratic accountability and it is time they were brought to book, even if somewhat belatedly in Ireland's case.

Costello will accompany a delegation of MEPs from the Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee to Dublin later this week to meet with representatives from the Government, Members of the Finance and European Affairs Committee and social partners to assess the impact of the Troika on Ireland.

"Despite the fact that Ireland has exited the bailout, the Irish people still need answers to questions from the Troika. The IMF have already admitted that the impact of budgetary consolidation was much more negative than envisaged. The European Commission and the ECB need to accept this reality and to develop investment and stimulus policies that will lead to employment and growth.

"The Irish people will be paying dearly for decisions made by people like Olli Rehn, Jean-Claude Trichet and Klaus Regling for years to come. The legacy of the Troika is one of high levels of youth unemployment combined with high levels of youth emigration - Ireland has lost one quarter of its 20 - 29 year olds since 2009.

"The decision by the Troika not to allow the Government to implement burden sharing with senior unguaranteed bondholders when it came into office in 2011, in particular institutions that were no longer core elements of the Irish financial system, has left Ireland with an unsustainable debt.

"Ireland has started on the road to recovery, but in reality this is despite austerity and not because of it. To ensure our recovery continues in a sustainable way, there needs to be resolution to the unfair banking debt being saddled on the backs of the Irish taxpayer.

"As MEP for Dublin, I will be seeking to ensure that Europe honours its commitment at the Summit in June 2012 to break the link between Banking and Sovereign debt and will be working with my colleagues in the European Parliament to achieve this aim."