Troika told that bailout agreement is ‘immoral’
At a meeting with the troika, Social Justice Ireland said the bailout agreement is dispossessing poor and vulnerable people while at the same time protecting many of those who, it said, “shared responsibility for Ireland’s current plight”.
As well as criticising the country’s own financial institutions, it also said the European Central Bank and European Commission played a role in the decisions that caused Ireland’s problems. Social Justice Ireland director Dr Séan Healy said the two institutions were refusing to accept responsibility.
“Instead, they insist that people who played no role in these decisions, Ireland’s poor and vulnerable, must pay in full to reimburse these institutions. This is a profoundly immoral process,” said Dr Healy.
“A revised memorandum of understanding is urgently required which would achieve economic growth and financial stability while securing real protection of poor and vulnerable people.”
He said in precarious times such as these a country, a government, a society or an international institution defines itself by the cuts it makes, the people it protects, its effectiveness on economic growth/jobs and its actions on public services and the values underpinning its choices.
“Using this yardstick, the ECB, the IMF and the European Commission have acted in the interests of the wealthy and the strong while seriously damaging those who are poor and vulnerable,” he said.
In yesterday’s talks with the troika, Social Justice Ireland said the bailout requires too big a set of changes with harsh consequences and it seeks to achieve them at too fast a pace.
“These factors are combining to undermine economic growth and, in turn, undermine any potential for recovery,” it said.
The social justice campaigners also pointed out that promised outcomes are not materialising including economic growth to forecast targets, job creation and the availability of finance.
