Government accused of sneaking in mini budget

THE Taoiseach was last night accused of reneging on his election promises by sneaking in serial cutbacks which amounted to a mini budget.

Fine Gael and Labour combined to cite a two-week series of Government announcements of spending curbs and extra service charges which covered education, health, defence and overseas aid. They said these amounted to a major reversal of what Fianna Fáil promised voters just two months ago.

Labour finance spokesman Brendan Howlin said the Government was drip-feeding bad news to the public with almost daily small-scale announcements. He challenged Mr Ahern to come clean and allow people know exactly where they stand right now.