The Taoiseach has denied that the dramatic increase in public sector employment in the second quarter of this year was part of a strategy to "buy" the May General Election.
Official public service employment figures released this week have prompted new Opposition claims that the Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrat Coalition sought to mislead the public about the state of the public finances in order to win the election.
Fine Gael's finance spokesman Mr Richard Bruton maintained yesterday that the Government had taken on staff it could not pay for, raided one-off sources of revenue to conceal a budget deficit and "misrepresented the resources available to pay for the pre-election Budget commitments".
In the 12 months ending on May 31st this year, public sector employment rose by 25,000 - 30,000, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO). This contrasts with an increase of just 10,000 to May 2001, 18,500 to May 2000 and 17,000 to May 1999.
These figures are broadly confirmed by the Government's own figures for the year ending in May 2002. These show an increase of 2,300 in general Civil Service employment, 5,000 in education, 2,000 in regional bodies including local authorities and 1,500 in semi-State companies. Employment in health rose by 14,000, according to the CSO.
The increase was proportionately higher towards the end of the 12-month period to May 31st 2002 - the immediate run in to the election.
The changes are in marked contrast to the position since the election where the State's health boards began identifying posts for possible job losses in order to control spending.
Mr Bruton yesterday claimed the surge in recruitment meant people were being taken on at a rate of three times the rate seen in recent years.
"The idea that the Government was unaware of this surge of recruitment in politically sensitive areas beggars belief," he said.
However the Taoiseach yesterday portrayed the increase in recruitment as part of a planned improvement in services.
"You wouldn't blame me for being slightly bemused in a week when I am accused of not putting money into health on a Sunday and on the Friday I am accused of putting too many staff into that area," he told reporters yesterday.
"The reality is that the Government has increased the staff in health alone from 60,000 to 93,000 in the last number of years and that has continued on. I'm not too sure whether I am being praised for that or criticised."
He said the Government had been putting extra services into dealing with hospital waiting lists and children's services. "We didn't buy the election," he said.