Taoiseach ‘too scared’ to publish cuts

By Shaun Connolly Political Correspondent

Thursday, July 09, 2009

BRIAN COWEN was accused yesterday of being too scared to present a €5 billion cuts package to the Dáil.

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said the Taoiseach was deliberately waiting for the Oireachtas to rise for its long summer break this week before "selectively leaking" parts of the long- awaited An Bord Snip Nua report.

In angry exchanges in the last Leaders’ Questions before the Dáil returns in September, Mr Gilmore accused the Taoiseach of "dither and incompetence" over the delayed appearance of the report on cuts and the failure of the Government to work out legislation to create the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), which is supposed to soak up €90bn of toxic land deals with taxpayers’ money.

The Labour leader effectively accused Mr Cowen of misleading the Dáil regarding the Bord Snip report drawn-up by economist Colm McCarthy.

"You’re withholding the McCarthy report. You know what’s in it. You’re delaying publishing it so you won’t have to discuss it. We need to see what is in it," Mr Gilmore said.

He accused the Taoiseach of being too scared to put the report before the Oireachtas before it rose on Friday and would instead "leak out" bits and pieces from it in the coming weeks to test public reaction.

Mr Gilmore also ridiculed the Government for saying NAMA was urgent in April, but was now not planning to set it up until September.

Mr Cowen dismissed the claims, saying Mr Gilmore was "playing the populist vote" and he insisted NAMA was taking time because it involved complex legislation.

An Bord Snip was due to report to the Finance Minister by June 30 and its study contains some 480 recommendations for public spending cuts.

A prime target for the axe will be welfare benefits, which are expected to be slashed by €2bn.

The handling of the report has led to tension between the Department of Finance and the Taoiseach’s office over how such sensitive material should be dealt with and whether it should be made public.

Mr Cowen also came under attack from Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny for presiding over a doubling of unemployment to more than 400,000 in 12 months.

"We’ve a plan put forward by our party to create 100,000 jobs and protect 80,000 jobs. You don’t seem to have a plan. Will you take ours?" he said.

The Taoiseach accused Mr Kenny of "playing games" and said the Government was committed to "growing jobs". "All matters are being dealt with by Government on a planned basis. There needs to be cuts. Your policy is more cuts but no cuts. That’s your problem," he said.

Mr Cowen said his priorities were to restore order to the public finances, stabilise the banking system and improve competitiveness.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Thursday, July 09, 2009