madam president when i was canvassing for a yes vote for the treaty of lisbon i gave irish citizens ten reasons to vote yes to lisbon
one of those was the social clause article nine
on several occasions in this chamber and elsewhere i have asked the commission and the council to now apply article nine in their proposals on economic governance and of course in their response to the current economic crisis which is a real test of their commitment to the social clause
in ireland we see the evidence of this response where the minimum wage has been cut by one euro an hour in the last week and where invalidity payments and payments to blind persons have also been cut
what now do the phrases the fight against social exclusion or the guarantee of adequate social protection contained in article nine signify to those citizens
of course you may say that this is an internal matter for ireland but it is not
the parameters for austerity in ireland were set by the eu and our government will send monthly reports to you
will you remind them of article nine when the report comes in about the cut in the minimum wage
why has this happened
this has happened because irish banks and european banks engaged in reckless lending and borrowing right under the noses of the ecb
the interest rates you are now charging to ireland for borrowing according to today's newspapers are three more than were charged to latvia romania and hungary
representatives from the court of auditors say that there is no precedent for the eu charging such a margin on loans
can i ask you to confirm or deny this situation
if it is true please explain to me so that i can explain to irish citizens how the social clause is working for them
this situation is specific to ireland but if it is a template for other member states in trouble then article nine is dead in the water
