Defiant Ahern defends Government's record

The Taoiseach conceded that Fianna Fáil had done badly in the elections, but he defended the Government's record in the face of Opposition criticism.

Mr Ahern said that Government, "at least the main party, Fianna Fáil", had not done well in the elections. The PDs had increased their vote by 1 per cent, he added.

Rounding on Fine Gael, Mr Ahern said that while he had no difficulty in congratulating them on winning five seats in the European parliament, the party's vote had decreased by 0.6 per cent in the local elections. "That was the figure published on the front page of the national newspapers yesterday. If my party had spent about 15 years in opposition, I would certainly not consider it a great victory."

When Mr Bernard Allen (FG, Cork North Central) remarked that the Taoiseach was seven years in government, Mr Ahern replied: "The deputy is 17 years in opposition." Mr Allen said: "Perhaps that is the problem."

Earlier, the Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, said that the results of the elections amounted to a "devastating indictment" of the Government.

"The perception which came across clearly to opposition parties was that the Government is out of touch, has grown too comfortable, arrogant and removed from the people in office, and that its decisions are based on looking after itself and its supporters rather than dealing with the concerns, anger and frustration of ordinary people."

Fianna Fáil deputies were arguing, he added, that the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, should go and the purse strings be released for more spending.

Mr Ahern said the Government had been determined over the past two years to stabilise the economy in light of the international recession.

"It did not hit this country as badly as it could have. There was not a dramatic increase in unemployment. We managed to stabilise ourselves and maintain tax rates, while still attracting some foreign direct investment."

Mr Kenny said that the Taoiseach had "recently returned from the G8 summit, at which his sartorial choice generated more publicity than the economic proposals made at the meeting." While the country was doing well economically, the Government had failed completely to deal with the issues with which it was faced, he added.

"The Government has produced report after report, including Hanly, Prospectus, Brennan and transport initiatives, but all of them are lying on shelves and are not being implemented. The Government has failed to deal and grapple with essential problems."

Mr Ahern said that the Government parties had more than 30 per cent support. The Fine Gael deputy leader, Mr Richard Bruton, said: "That means 70 per cent of the electorate do not support the Government."

Mr Ahern said he did not accept that things were not working and were wrong. "Yesterday, I opened the extension of the Intel plant which involved €2 billion in direct investment. The company provides the most highly-skilled jobs in the world in IT."