Kenny will ‘deliver promises or step aside’

ENDA KENNY has pledged not to remain in office for a second term as Taoiseach if he fails to deliver on his promises in the first.

The declaration formed the cornerstone of the “Contract for a Better Ireland” which the Fine Gael leader offered the electorate in his televised address to the party ard fheis in Citywest Hotel, Dublin.

Mr Kenny declared he would step aside if he failed to deliver.

“I want to be absolutely clear. Having fulfilled this contract, and only having fulfilled this contract, will I stand again before you, the people of Ireland, and ask you to re-elect me as Taoiseach. And if I have not, I will not,” Mr Kenny said.

The number one priority in the contract was delivering “health services that work,” he said, which would mean providing 2,300 more hospital beds, free health insurance for every child under 16 and free GP visits for every child under five.

Saying there was “never a worse time to be sick and never a better time to be a criminal,” Mr Kenny promised 2,000 more gardaí and tougher sentences for offenders.

On education, Mr Kenny claimed children were suffering because immigration hadn’t been handled properly, the suggestion being that schools were under-resourced to deal with the burdens of new languages and cultures.

Fine Gael would create a ministry for immigrationaffairs “to take charge and develop a system that was good for the Irish and good for the immigrants”,

On economic issues, he promised “lower income taxes for every taxpayer” and “an end to stamp duty as we know it,” with lower rates for everyone.

In addition, Fine Gael would ensure that taxpayers’ money was “spent wisely”, sacking any ministers who wasted Exchequer funds.

But Mr Kenny keptreturning to his central theme: namely that he would deliver or go.

Attempting to build for voters an image of earnestness and trustworthiness, he referred to his late father Henry, a highly regarded TD and Mayo football star who said ‘a politician’s job was to keep his promises’ and, also, his grandfather James McGinley, a lighthouse keeper, who “kept his contract, kept his word” to help people on their journeys.

Mr Kenny said he would similarly keep his contract with the people. By contrast, he claimed, the current Government had broken a litany of promises.

He proceeded to take a swipe at Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who had delivered a raft of new commitments at the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis.

“Last week, another man stood in this hall and made 53 promises. I will give you just one — after years of deception and broken promises, I believe it’s about time a politician stepped up to the line and took responsibility for their actions in government. I am that politician. If you enter into this contract with me, you give me a mandate for a better Ireland and I will deliver it.”