McCreevy’s bookkeeping criticised

THE chief executive of the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland, John Dunne, has called on Minister for Finance Charlie McCreevy to end his policy of shifting costs “off the books”.

That was necessary as a means of protecting the integrity of public policy and making it more transparent, said Mr Dunne.

Speaking as CCI’s pre-budget submission Mr Dunne said problems with the public finances would be further exacerbated in 2004, if the minister continued on these “foolhardy attempts to make the coffers look more healthy” than actually was the case.