Labour: ‘Stunning failure by Cowen to blame for crisis’
In an attack on the Taoiseach’s recent speech claiming the recession was not his fault, Labour leader, Eamon Gilmore, said attempts to escape responsibility “added insult to injury” to the thousands of people suffering as a result of the downturn and was “a grave injustice” to the country.
“The fact of the matter is that his party is in Government for the last 13 years and he must take responsibility for what has happened,” Mr Gilmore said during Leaders’ Questions – the first appearance of the Taoiseach in the Dáil since his speech to the North Dublin Chamber last Thursday night in which he accepted responsibility for decisions taken by the Government but did not admit culpability for the downturn.
As the blame game continued on the floor of the Dáil, Mr Cowen hit back at Labour by claiming they had proposed the abolition of stamp duties before the last election which would have further fuelled the housing boom.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said the Government’s banking strategy has failed in on of its key purposes of freeing up credit for small businesses.
“The banks are either demanding personal guarantees from small businesses or making it so difficult that they will only lend on the basis of property. They are unwilling to consider loans on the basis of cash flow or volume of turnover,” he said.
At least 100,000 jobs have already been lost from small and medium businesses because they have been unable to get credit to keep going – something the Government said was its key concern in providing the bank guarantee and in the setting up of NAMA.
Mr Kenny called for the establishment of a loan guarantee scheme “in the interest of protecting at least 100,000 jobs and in the interest of the thousands of small businesses that are struggling”.
He said: “A fundamental sector of the economy is being destroyed by a bank policy that is concerned only with protecting shareholders and building up reserves.”
Mr Kenny also claimed NAMA is “a secretive organisation which was set up by the Taoiseach”.
He said: “The fees it pays to accountants and lawyers will make the tribunal fees look like chicken feed.”
