Claims Ireland is on verge of bankruptcy rejected

WARNINGS Ireland is on the brink of bankruptcy were last night rejected by the Government.

Commerce Minister Billy Kelleher said forecasts of the country was heading for economic disaster did not stand up to scrutiny.

He was responding to predictions by Dan O’Brien, a senior editor at the highly influential Economist Intelligence Unit, that Ireland risked going bust.

“The remarks made by Dan O’Brien are very damaging to our country and what we are trying to achieve as a government. They are way off the wall.

“For a man who works for the intelligence unit they are not very intelligent comments and they do not reflect a true picture of what is happening to the economy in this country and I am outraged by them,” he said.

The Economist Intelligence Unit forecast follows on from warnings by respected UCD academic Morgan Kelly who said it was a question of when, not if, Ireland went bankrupt.

Prof Kelly’s findings have caused a particular stir as he was one of the few economists who predicted the property crash when Government ministers were still insisting the “fundamentals” of the economy were sound and the country was heading for a “soft landing”.

Mr Kelleher said Ireland was heading for recovery and deflation was helping Irish firms; and that unemployment had “stabilised” at 13.4%.

He pointed to a steep rise in car sales and a modest hike in retail sales as proof that consumer confidence was returning.

“The National Treasury Management Agency has already raised 70% of its €20bn funding target for the full year.

“And it also has cash balances of more than €20bn, with a further €25bn being held in the National Pensions Reserve Fund,” he added.