There is too much austerity, says European commissioner

Too much austerity is being prescribed in the current crisis and a better way must be found to ensure growth, the European Commission’s employment and social affairs commissioner, László Andor, has said.

He was responding to statements from Siptu and the social partners that meeting the troika was fruitless, as they resisted efforts to have them change their approach to the economic crisis.

Mr Andor, an eco-nomist, said he got a fresh understanding of the situation in Ireland from meeting the social partners in Brussels and during his visit to Dublin recently. While relatively good progress had been made on the programme, judging from some of the headline figures, there were unwelcome social consequences, such as the number of young people emigrating from Ireland.