Labour bailout proposal slated

FINE Gael and Fianna Fáil have both attacked Labour’s proposal to extend the timeframe for making the €15 billion budget adjustment required under the EU/IMF bailout.

In its economic recovery plan, the Government envisages doing it by 2014, and began the process in last December’s budget with €6bn of spending cuts and new taxes, which leaves another €9bn to go over the next three budgets.

Fine Gael agrees with the overall targets, even though it says it would make the adjustment in a different way to the Government.