FG/Labour attack public expenditure waste

FINE GAEL and Labour will zero in on the Government’s mismanagement of taxpayers’ money in the coming months as they attempt to convince the public that they could do better if put in power.

The parties yesterday unveiled their first shared statement, "A New Departure for Social Partnership", which called for reforms to the system under which the national pay agreements are put in place. They also announced a joint project to identify measures "to minimise waste in public expenditure".

The announcements came after a meeting between the two parties in Co Westmeath yesterday to mark the first anniversary of the Mullingar Accord, the agreement reached last year which signalled that Fine Gael and Labour would form a pre-election pact.

The parties returned to Belvedere House, the location where the accord was finalised, for a meeting strategically timed to draw attention away from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party conference in Co Cavan.

As Fianna Fáil continued to take pot shots at the parties Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern caustically labelling them "an axis of taxes" both Mr Kenny and Mr Rabbitte insisted it was time for a change of government.

And they signalled their intent to formulate an agreed agenda before the election by publishing the document on social partnership, the model for which had to become "more transparent and focused" and deliver more for the taxpayer.

Negotiations on the next national pay agreement, to succeed Sustaining Progress, are to begin shortly.

The Oireachtas does not have any role in setting the agenda for the negotiations, and Fine Gael and Labour want that changed.

They also argue social partnership is not just about wage demands, and want the Government to commit to "a rigorous competitiveness programme", addressing deficits in areas such as broadband and road infrastructure, in order to address some of the "significant fragilities" in the economy.

Social partnership was an issue of "such overriding importance" that it merited being the first matter the parties addressed together, Mr Rabbitte said.

The second issue they will address is wasteful public expenditure.

The parties rolled out a "greatest hits" of "waste and mismanagement under the Fianna Fáil/PD Government", including the €52 million spent on electronic-voting machines that were subsequently deemed unusable.

Mr Bruton and Ms McManus will co-ordinate the joint project to identify ways of delivering improved public services while achieving greater value for money for the taxpayer. The results of that project should be published in about three months, the parties said.