Lenihan slip-up as he denies he said ‘the worst is over’

FINANCE Minister Brian Lenihan suffered an embarrassing slip-up at the launch of Fianna Fáil’s economics manifesto, denying remarks he made in his Budget 2010 speech that “the worst is over”.

Although these comments are on the Dáil record from December 9, 2009, the minister initially tried to suggest that he did not say this, before being forced to accept that these were, in fact, his words.

Mr Lenihan launched an attack on the opposition’s pre-election economic promises which he dismissed as populist and unrealistic.