Mansergh compared to Marie Antoinette

THE recession is good news for the “so-called gap” between rich and poor, a minister claimed last night.

Minister of State at the Finance Department Martin Mansergh was compared to Marie Antoinette for his “out of touch” comments by opposition TDs.

Mr Mansergh drew heavy fire for claiming Ireland had done “pretty well” in wealth distribution, as it is midway in the table of western countries, and this would improve in the downturn.

“The paradox is that the so-called gap between rich and poor — which ignores the fact that many people are middle-class — narrows in recessionary times and tends to expand in good times. Therefore, those figures will probably improve in the current circumstances. This does not mean, of course, that real poverty will not increase at the same time,” he told the Dáil.

Labour Finance spokeswoman Joan Burton said the remarks smacked of the same “Marie Antoinette” attitudes that saw generations of Irish people forced to emigrate to find work. She said the jobless had again been left fend for themselves after a Government “surrender” to the inevitability of mass unemployment.

Ms Burton insisted the emergency budget contained no initiatives aimed at shortening dole queues as the least well off in society had been left stranded in “poverty traps”.

“The absence of a single back-to-work measure in the legislation is remarkable, despite 100,000 people losing their jobs over the past year. In the current economic climate, that is not only an oversight but a dereliction of duty,” she said.

Ms Burton warned that the way mortgage subsidies were structured discouraged people needing help with payments from working in case they were barred from the aid and risked losing their homes as a result.

Mr Mansergh said the Government was putting an extra 15.5% into social welfare next year, taking the total to €20bn.

Fine Gael social and family affairs spokeswoman Olwyn Enright zeroed in on moves to cut the back-to-education allowance (BTEA), which she warned would only make the economy worse.

“Instead of using the tools that will aid people getting on the employment ladder, such as the BTEA, the Government has blunted them.

“The Government should have used this opportunity to expand the BTEA, allowing people increase their skills and employment prospects.” she said.