Ireland different to Greece, Minister of State Simon Harris tells Seanad

Ireland was in a decidedly different position to Greece, Minister of State for Finance Simon Harris told the Seanad.

“This is not to make the flippant ‘Ireland is not Greece’ comment,’’ he said.

He said he accepted the view of Independent Senator Paul Bradford, who raised the outcome of the Greek election result, about European solidarity and the importance of Greece and its contribution to civilisation and democracy over hundreds of years.

Mr Harris said Ireland, as a small, open trading economy, had managed to emerge from the economic and fiscal crisis. The economy was now growing and, most important, jobs were being created.

Ireland had successfully exited an EU-IMF programme and its debt levels were sustainable, he said, adding that a key to the discussions on the Greek programme would be the issue of debt sustainability.

Bilateral loans

The vast majority of the Greek debt was official and owed to European taxpayers and the IMF. “Indeed, before entering a programme, the

Irish Government

provided almost €350 million to Greece by way of bilateral loans.’’

He said there was nothing on the table yet, in terms of proposals from the Greek government, and it would not be appropriate for him to speculate on the Government’s position on the matter.

Mr Bradford said while he appreciated the social, economic and political problems of Greece might be different from Ireland, there should be an end to using the phrase “we are not Greece’’.

He said it was an ancient democracy and there was an obligation to try to ensure its continuation, economically, socially and politically, and to work with the Greek people and the new government.

Mr Bradford said there should be a note of caution for people who believed some magic economic formula had been delivered by the Greek people in the election.