Labour demands details of public spending cuts

The Labour Party has demanded full disclosure from the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, on the projected impact of the public service expenditure cuts that he announced today.

Mr Brendan Howlin, the party’s finance spokesman, said Mr McCreevy’s admission at the final plenary session of the PPF at Dublin Castle shows the "breathtaking hypocrisy" Fianna Fáil employed in the election campaign.

Mr McCreevy said this morning there was a need for a "disciplined approach" to spending to maintain the strength of the Irish economy.

Mr Howlin dismissed this as nonsense, accusing the Minister of confining spending in the first years of the previous government and then "splurging for the two years in the run up to the election." This resulted in poor planning and poor value for money spent, he argued.

"Having thrown money at problems in the eighteen months running up to the election, the Minister’s warning about throwing money at problems now is a sick joke," he added.

The Chambers of Commerce of Ireland welcomed Mr McCreevy’s commitment this morning to work for increased cost-efficiency within public services, but warned that the improvements were too small and too slow.

The CCI chief executive, Mr John Dunne, said there has been insufficient transparency and urgency in addressing the weaknesses in the public services. This was evident when the consistent delays and cost over-runs in many National Development Plan programmes were considered, he said.