Danger of currency break-up, says Ross

SEANAD REPORT:THERE WAS a real danger that the euro currency system would break up, not through the exclusion of weak participants but as a result of the strong pulling out, Shane Ross (Ind) warned.

It seemed perfectly clear that German chancellor Angela Merkel was sick and tired of some of the “club Med” countries.

She had been a hardliner on the issue of providing aid for Greece, but had conceded in the end. While there was no mechanism for the expulsion of Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy or Ireland from the euro, it had to be borne in mind that Ms Merkel had lost very badly in recent provincial elections, largely because of the Greek bailout. Mr Ross was speaking in the debate on the Bill to enable Ireland to play its part along with other euro-zone countries in the provision of financial support to Greece. The Bill passed all stages.

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Referring to a tragic story about a woman who had taken her own life following a cut in her social welfare payments and pressures regarding mortgage arrears, Maria Corrigan (FF) said life was precious and nothing was worth losing one’s life over. “I think it’s really important that we would send the message from here, that everything passes, that these times will pass . . . pick up the phone. It’s not worth taking your life over.”

Labhras Ó Murchú (FF) said the hopelessness that many people were feeling was unprecedented in the history of the State. He could only imagine how lonely, helpless and isolated that young woman must have felt, that she had found it necessary to end her life. “There must be many more like that.”

The need for mandatory reporting of suspected child sexual abuse must be addressed following the failure of Children and Youth Affairs Minister Barry Andrews to give cogent reasons why such reporting should not be obligatory, Ronan Mullen (Ind) said. “Quite frankly, I feel that where anybody knows that a criminal act has taken place . . . they ought to be alerting the civil authorities, and that should not just be a matter of guidelines.”

David Norris (Ind) expressed concern about websites carrying messages advocating, among other things, that “knackers” be flushed out like rats. Recently a Facebook page entitled, “setting aside Monday afternoons to hunt knackers” had been created, to which a large number of Irish people had signed up.