**Yes side should engage in a serious debate on the Treaty
EU Policies mean pain for Irish workers**
At a public meeting in Crumlin tonight local People Before Profit Councillor, Joan Collins, said that an unholy alliance of big business, politicians, trade union leaders and the Labour Party were attempting to scare the public into accepting the Lisbon Treaty.
“Yesterday we had Brian Lenihan, Michael O Leary, David Begg and Eamonn Gilmore all threatening us with job losses and economic doom if we vote no. This is despite the fact that there is nothing in the Treaty that will create jobs. Indeed the Referendum Commission has that the treaty “contains no provisions” on jobs levels.
It is absolutely shameful that the leaders of the trade union movement and the Labour Party should be joining in this chorus of threats rather than engaging in a real debate about the treaty.
We say that the policies of the EU and the Irish government have got us into the recession and the policies of the EU will not get us out of it. Indeed they will lead to further pain for ordinary taxpayers.
The European Central Bank (ECB) is supporting NAMA and, in a document published in February, has warned against the perils of nationalisation. The ECB is concerned about “the risk of banks’ objectives being diverted from profit maximisation to alternative goals”. Is this focus on profit maximisation not the source of our current problems? Surely we need a new model of banking were the need
for investment in social infrastructure takes precedence over the greed of bankers.
The role of the ECB as set out in the Treaty is far too narrow. Its primary responsibility is to maintain price stability rather than generate job creation or social investment.
The EU fully supports the government policy of making ordinary people pay for the recession through a programme of savage cuts in services and wages. It is quite clear that the wide range of cuts proposed in the Mc Carthy report are aimed at meeting the limits on government spending set out in the EU Stability and Growth Pact. The Lisbon
Treaty gives new powers to the EU Commission to ensure that governments do not breach these limits. This will mean real pain for the people I represent”
Councillor Collins also said that Treaty contains real threats to our public services, will lead to the further militarisation of the EU and will copperfasten recent Euopean Court rulings subordinating workers rights to those of big business.
She concluded “There is nothing in the Treaty that will fundamentally change the neo-liberal direction of EU policy. The NO vote in the last referendum should have been used to open up a real debate about the future direction of Europe. I want a Europe which forces on eliminating
poverty, which prioritises spending on health and education over military spending, which gives primacy to job creation and the rights of workers. I want a Europe that puts people before profit. Only by voting NO can we open up a debate which can lead to a real change for the future in Europe ”
For more information contact Eddie Conlon 087 6775468