madam president last sunday i met a group of young people in ireland who are struggling to survive poverty
they asked me as a member of this parliament whose side i was on
was i on their side or on the side of the bankers
that is the blunt question they asked me
they gave me a series of testimonies which they asked me to convey to this parliament
they pointed out that they are no longer interested in voting because they see no prospect in change by continuing to vote
they say that they are sick of being treated as nothing and that they feel that they have no value to society
i believe that we have to take account of what these young people are thinking
they are our future
i see no evidence that the commission is actually ensuring that the member states being urged to engage in fiscal consolidation are taking account of the fact that we must not drive these people who are already suffering pain into more pain and drive people who are currently on the margins into poverty
it is extremely important that we
