Bruton accuses Ahern of living in 'warped world' in sharp exchanges

THERE were bitter exchanges during the Dáil debate on the economy when Fine Gael enterprise spokesman Richard Bruton accused Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern of living in a “warped world” after he criticised Opposition proposals and statements made before the financial crisis.

Mr Bruton told Mr Ahern: “Now you’re in a hole of your own creation, you want to pretend you’re listening to the Opposition”, but “speaking out of the other side of your mouth you’ve produced this bile”.

Mr Ahern had told the House he welcomed Opposition proposals and the Government would consider them seriously. He then criticised Labour proposals such as the creation of a strategic investment bank. The Minister said it was based on a German bank described as “Germany’s dumbest bank”.

He added that proposals for a 48 per cent tax rate for higher earners would push the top rate to 62 per cent and would have many international companies going elsewhere. The Minister also cited statements in 2005 and 2006 by Mr Bruton and Labour finance spokeswoman Joan Burton that not enough assistance was available to first-time buyers.

But Mr Bruton said he did not hear a single proposal in the Minister’s speech on how to achieve savings, or growth or any employment initiatives.

He said “either we try to approach our problems in a constructive manner or we enter the warped world of Deputy Ahern in which he seeks to score points against the Opposition by finding obscure statements to try to pretend we said things we did not say”.

Mr Bruton said: “We were not listened to when we said we needed to rationalise the structure of government and start reducing the number of quangos, 200 of which were created by Government in the past 10 years. We were not listened to when we said the Government’s banking strategy was reckless, would bring the country to the brink of ruin, was the most expensive option and would put the taxpayer on the hook.”

Mr Bruton said his party proposed a strategic bank two years ago. The Tánaiste and Mr Ahern “attempted to smear that proposal as if credit is racing through to small businesses, there are no problems and the existing strategy is working perfectly well. What planet are they living on?” He asked Mr Ahern: “Do you ever get out of the comfortable seat of your Mercedes and listen to people on the ground” talking about what was happening to their businesses.

Mr Bruton said the Government’s policies were the “policies of insiders who want to pull up the ladder behind them, batten down the hatches and try to get through the crisis. The trouble is that the outsiders who will be left on deck exposed to the full brunt of the storm are our young people.”

Some 90 per cent of those who lost their jobs in the past two years are under 30, he said. “However having invested €100,000 in the education of each of them, we will find that they emigrate to Sydney, Frankfurt and other destinations far beyond our shores.”

He also asked “what is to be done about the serious failure to deliver strategies that are launched by Ministers at big glitzy affairs but which never succeed?”