Labour accused of misleading voters on bailout

FIANNA FÁIL LEADER:FIANNA FÁIL leader Micheál Martin has accused the Labour Party of trying to mislead voters about the implications of changes that may be achieved to the IMF-EU bailout deal.

He has also expanded on the apology he delivered last week when taking over as party leader for mistakes made by Fianna Fáil in government.

Mr Martin said the interest rate applied to the IMF portion of the bailout deal was set by a formula which was never open to negotiation, while a change to the terms of the EU portion required building consensus rather than causing conflict.

“It won’t happen by someone saying it’s our way or Frankfurt’s way,” he said.

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said on Thursday: “It’s Frankfurt’s way or Labour’s way.”

Mr Martin said the Government had been working with colleagues from other countries to bring about a significant restructuring of the EU portion of the debt facility. “This has been happening in the way that works best, by engaging colleagues in a respectful but determined way.

“There’s nothing final, but it’s now clear that there will be a restructuring of the facility, including a possible reduction in the interest which Ireland pays for its borrowing.”

He said there were indications that a broad agreement could emerge by the end of next month.

“Consensus, not conflict, is the right way forward for Ireland and it will deliver.”

Mr Martin said changes to the deal would not remove the problems facing the new government.

He said Ireland’s budget problems were not in any way the result of the EU-IMF deal, and the revenue Government was raising was insufficient to pay for public services and social support.

“Parties are acting as if they can bang the table, shout a bit and remove the need for tough action.

“There have been many empty photo opportunities and angry speeches, but these are all about the election and nothing about Ireland’s future.”

Asked how much direct involvement he had in negotiating the IMF-EU deal in his previous position as minister for foreign affairs, Mr Martin said the “key interlocutors” were the National Treasury Management Agency, the Central Bank and the Department of Finance.

Asked to elaborate on the apology he delivered last week and to outline exactly what he was apologising for, Mr Martin said “the most fundamental mistake” was not challenging “the consensus that was all prevailing at the time”.

He said that consensus was that the fundamentals of the economy were sound, “and that the issue really was who could spend the most and who could erode the tax base the most”.

He also said the Government had been responsible for spending too much “in terms of public expenditure”. The regulatory system was not what it should have been, he added.

“It’s an age-old question of who guards the guards? On this question, the guardianship of the guards was deficient, clearly we know that.”

Mr Martin was also asked about a political donation he received from the developer Owen O’Callaghan. The Fianna Fáil leader said there had never been any question about his integrity or the funding of his political campaigns. He added that he had given a comprehensive account to the planning tribunal.

“In terms of the political donation, at the time all politicians across the board have received political donations and at the time there wasn’t any regulations governing that, but again we did produce documentary evidence to show that in terms of that contribution it was used to fund partly the political fund, or the political operation of the local elections of 1991,” he said.

“I can state categorically that there was no question in relation to my integrity or in terms of the funding of any of my political campaigns.

“I can say that without equivocation. And there never has been, by the way, any suggestion to that effect from anybody, and I just provided information like many others did.”