Ireland still dealing with 'train wreck' of economic collapse, says Kenny

Ireland was still dealing with the “train wreck” of the economic collapse, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said.

Irish taxpayers became the “place of first resort” in bailing out the banks and this should not be allowed to happen in other countries, Mr Kenny told a meeting this morning of parliamentarians from European states.

He wanted to see the agreement made between the leaders of EU member states on June 29th last year to break the link between sovereign and and banking debt “followed through on”, he said.

“We still have the issue of the train wreck economically that occurred a number of years ago and that’s why banking union is of such importance,” he said.

“Hopefully for the future with the tools and mechanisms now in place what happened here won’t be allowed to happen elsewhere,” he added.

The presence of the EU-IMF troika had been “difficult” with 190 pieces of reform to introduce including the downsizing of the public service, public pay and pensions.

Ireland during its EU presidency has made a contribution to stability by focusing on banking union, better supervision and limits on bankers bonuses. There had to be greater efforts however to tackle the 26 million people unemployed in the EU, he said. “How can any politician stand up and say we have done and first class job with that scale of unemployment,” he said.

“People have to see evidence of what is being done on their behalf,” he added.

The meeting of European affairs committees of parliaments across the EU was important in focusing on the democratic legitimacy of the EU, he added. “The European Council has recognised that stronger economic governance arrangements need to be supported by stronger democratic legitimacy and clearer public accountability,” he said.