madam president as an irish mep i am well aware that the eyes of europe are on my country's economic woes right now
the crisis in my country was caused by greed pure greed among the political and big business elite
these people squandered the wealth created by an energetic and innovative population and they must be held accountable
however the crisis was also caused by lax regulation of the banking sector
that failure also extends to europe
one should remember last july's banking stress tests when the commission effectively signed off on the future of the very banks in ireland that are at the heart of the crisis
how could this happen
i am very angry that my country has reached this point very angry indeed
i very much welcome the solidarity that has been shown by our colleagues across europe particularly in providing finance to stabilise our economy
however i do believe we are at a crossroads for the future of the eu
ireland is very much a sovereign nation and any diktats from europe about ireland's taxation policy would i believe cross a dangerous line when it comes to the treatment of smaller nation states in the union
