Taoiseach ends first term with opposition attacks

ENDA KENNY finished his first Dáil term as Taoiseach as he started it — by blaming Fianna Fáil for the country’s continuing problems.

Taking questions from Opposition leaders for the final time before the summer recess, Mr Kenny dismissed criticisms about his lack of contact with fellow EU leaders ahead of the crucial summit on the debt crisis in Brussels today.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin expressed “disbelief” that Mr Kenny had “not spoken to a single leader” in advance of the summit.

Mr Martin also criticised the Government’s failure to secure an interest rate cut on Ireland’s bailout loans from the EU, accusing Mr Kenny of taking a “hands-off, hope-it-will-work-out” approach.

“You continue to talk about diplomatic offensives but you cannot, or will not, for some reason lift the phone to one single person who can influence and make decisions in relation to this country at (the) summit,” Mr Martin said.

He pushed the Taoiseach to spell out exactly what the Government was hoping to achieve at the summit.

Mr Kenny retorted by saying: “What Ireland is seeking is to clean up the mess that you created… I’d remind you that we did not ask to be in this loan repayment bailout situation — that’s what you landed us in.”

Mr Kenny has been criticised for resorting to political attacks rather than give clear answers to Opposition questions.

But he stuck with the tactic when Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams compared the issue of welfare cuts with the €9 billion in profit which the EU stands to make from the interest on the bailout loans.

He urged Mr Kenny to make it clear to EU leaders when he travelled to Brussels that Ireland could not afford to pay the “outrageous” interest.

Mr Kenny responded: “I recall on many occasions, Deputy Adams, questions being asked of your good self as to how you were able to travel around the world while you were on the dole. Remember those questions? “The deputy had no income at the time. The deputy wasn’t elected as an MP, wasn’t elected as an Assembly member, wasn’t elected as a TD.”

But Mr Adams insisted the taxpayer had not paid for his travels.

“Taoiseach, wherever I travelled in the interests of the Irish peace process — a peace process your government objected to — and wherever I travelled in the interest of Irish unity and the freedom of our people, those who invited me picked up the tab. The Irish taxpayer didn’t pick up the tab.”

The Dáil rises today until September 14 — roughly an eight-week break. Mr Kenny revealed he would not be holidaying abroad, and would instead be hiking in the Kerry mountains.

But Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins urged him to reconsider his choice of destination, quipping that many people would benefit if Mr Kenny chose to “leave the country for an extended period”.