FG REACTION:TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen has been accused by Fine Gael of making "devious, dishonest and dangerous" claims on the economy.
Fine Gael enterprise spokesman Leo Varadkar said contrary to Mr Cowen’s claims that no one foresaw the crash, his party’s deputy leader Richard Bruton had repeatedly warned that the property boom was unsustainable.
Mr Varadkar said the current pay cuts and tax hikes were a result of the deficit created by Mr Cowen’s “giveaway” budgets when he was minister for finance.
“Numerous economists and Fine Gael’s own Richard Bruton repeatedly warned the Government that its fiscal strategy was based on an unsustainable property boom. Brian Cowen, who was finance minister at the time, claimed the Opposition was ‘talking down the economy’.
“The spectacular crash of the Irish economy and the dramatic rise in unemployment is principally the result of the collapsed property boom.
“The enormous budget deficit which has resulted in pay cuts and tax hikes are a direct result of Brian Cowen’s four giveaway budgets.
“This is accepted as fact. The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) constantly refers to the presence of a ‘structural deficit’ in the national finances, which is a direct result of past fiscal policy mistakes by the Irish Government.
“In fact, when the ESRI talks about a structural deficit, it really means a ‘Fianna Fáil’ deficit. While the rest of the world suffered a slowdown, Ireland went into a tailspin. The fact that Brian Cowen and his Fianna Fáil party are still constantly blaming international factors for all of Ireland’s ills is deeply worrying.
“If the people currently in charge of the Irish economy refuse to accept past mistakes, they are doomed to repeat them.
“It is now painfully clear for all to see that the people who led us into this recession are not the people to lead us out. What we need is a new government with a new team to lead the country in a new direction,” Mr Varadkar said.
