Coalition majority at risk as McDaid resigns

THE Government has insisted it can push through the budget despite losing yet another TD who departed with a stinging rebuke to Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

The coalition now has a majority of just three following the resignation of Fianna Fáil TD Jim McDaid, and that includes several TDs who have threatened not to support the budget if health services or welfare payments are cut.

In a letter to the Taoiseach, Mr McDaid claimed the Government had shirked necessary decisions because its primary focus was its own survival rather than the health of the economy.