Ireland ‘needs change of government to tackle debt’

IRELAND may need a new government to get a grip on its debt crisis, the agency which downgraded the country’s credit rating warned yesterday.

The controversial intrusion into domestic politics came as Brian Cowen added to the economic gloom by confirming March’s tax take is likely to have nose-dived as fast as the collapse in the first two months of the year, which provoked the need for next week’s emergency budget.

Opposition parties calculated that the move by debt rating agency Standard and Poor’s to reduce Ireland’s prized AAA rating to a AA+ will end up costing the country an extra €400 millio-€1 billion in repayments next year.