Kenny calls Government policy a catastrophic failure

OPPOSITION REACTION:THE GOVERNMENT'S banking policy was yesterday described as a "catastrophic failure" by Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, who said EU and IMF officials would "dictate" the terms of a bailout.

Mr Kenny said the Irish people were “exasperated and frustrated beyond belief” about the handling of the economic crisis, and claimed the Coalition had misled the Dáil when introducing the bank guarantee scheme.

Officials were coming to Dublin today “to dictate to your Government” and not to “say hello”, Mr Kenny told Taoiseach Brian Cowen yesterday.

Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore said the IMF personnel were “not coming to do their Christmas shopping”. Mr Gilmore accused Government Ministers of engaging in “pretence” about the extent of negotiations about a bailout throughout the weekend.

“I told you that giving that blanket guarantee to the banks was handing over the deeds of the country to the banks, and now we know the truth of it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael deputy spokesman for finance, with responsibility for public expenditure, Brian Hayes said he had no regrets about telling former minister Frank Fahey he was talking “a pile of s**t” when they both appeared on a radio programme yesterday morning.

Mr Fahey, speaking on Newstalk’s Breakfast Show, told presenter Ivan Yates, Ireland was in a “pretty good position”, the State’s sovereign debt was in a “good situation” and the Government had handled the economic crisis well.

“It’s very difficult to listen to Frank right now, because it’s a pile of s**t and you don’t believe it . . . and you’ve been spinning this line for the last number of years, and now the European Commission don’t believe the Government, anything they say, and you come on this programme this morning, and you continue with this Fianna Fáil spin,” Mr Hayes said. He told The Irish Times he did not normally use such language but felt “provoked” by Mr Fahey’s comments.

“Given the scale of what we face at the moment I think my comments are fairly insignificant,” Mr Hayes added.

Fine Gael spokesman on finance Michael Noonan was in Brussels on Tuesday and yesterday morning, having been invited to a briefing on the economic crisis by EU finance ministers who are members of the European People’s Party grouping.

Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said an EU bailout would “further indebt the Irish people” and a “credible plan” was needed to save the economy. “This requires the abandonment of the Government’s disastrous banking policy and the removal from office of the Government itself. We need a general election as soon as possible and at all costs we must try to prevent the passing of the threatened slash-and-burn budget which will deepen the recession,” he said.