An Oireachtas committee has condemned comments attributed to German EU Commissioner Gunter Oettinger suggesting flags of countries struggling with debt should be flown at half mast.
The Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs called on the Energy Commissioner to withdraw the remarks which were reported by a German newspaper this week.
The committee said the remarks were "unacceptable" and described them as inappropriate and as displaying a lack of understanding of the difficulties faced by ordinary people in Ireland and across the EU.
“A nation’s national flag is a proud symbol of a country and its citizens and should be treated with respect,” the committee said in a statement released today.
“The joint committee calls on the Commissioner to withdraw his unacceptable remarks, to acknowledge that such remarks are damaging and to affirm that only in working together as friendly and respectful nations can Europe be restored and its future secured.”
Mr Oettinger reportedly made his remarks in an interview with the mass circulation newspaper Bild.
“There has been the suggestion too of flying the flags of deficit sinners at half-mast in front of EU buildings. It would just be a symbol, but would still be a big deterrent,” he was quoted as saying.
The committee added its voice to that of Irish and Portuguese MEPs, who derided the comments as “daft” and a “humiliation” for countries with excessive deficits.
“The joint committee believes it would be a powerful symbol but one of arrogance, ignorance and divisiveness that would not reflect the principles of the European Union,” the statement said.
“Ireland and its citizens have had to make sacrifices in order to set our country on course for recovery.
“In this respect Ireland and its citizens have done everything that has so far been required of it, both in the interests of our own future and the future of the European Union as a whole. Ireland needs the European Union and the European Union needs Ireland.”
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Mr Oettinger denied making the comments and insisted he was referring to a notion he heard of in the office of a German tabloid.
"I did not propose this idea nor did I support it," Mr Oettinger said in the statement.