Ministers: No rift over need for fresh bailout

MINISTERS denied there was a split in the Government over the need for a second bailout as Joan Burton insisted she had not gone “rogue” on the issue.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore was forced to play down talk of a Cabinet rift following the Social Protection Minister’s intervention stating another humiliating loan from the EU and IMF could not be ruled out due to the unpredictability of the eurozone situation.

It came as Ms Burton moved to cut rent benefits for social welfare tenants by up to €270 a month.

Mr Gilmore insisted the country needed to say “goodbye” to the EU/IMF/ECB troika as soon as possible.

“We are in a programme, we are meeting all the targets that have been set down in that programme. The Government’s objective is to work our way out of that programme, to say goodbye to the IMF and ECB and EU representatives in Dublin, to do that as quickly as possible and to get back into the markets.

“There is a single unified government position on that and that is that we want to get out of the programme as quickly as possible and all of the measures that we are taking are aimed in that direction,” he said while in Belfast to meet Northern Secretary Owen Paterson and members of the Stormont executive.

Ms Burton’s comments were in stark contrast to the blanket denials of the need for a second bailout issued by the Taoiseach and Finance Minister Michael Noonan, who branded the idea “ludicrous”.

Ms Burton’s intervention has clearly angered other members of the Cabinet in both parties. Fine Gael Environment Minister Phil Hogan was dismissive of her stance. “If Minister Burton has a personal opinion on that, it’s her business,” he told Newstalk Breakfast. When pressed if Ms Burton was “out of order”, he said: “You can ask her that yourself.”

Talk of a second bailout topped the political agenda after Citigroup chief economist Willem Buiter warned Dublin should have a “standby” bailout ready if returning to borrow on the bond markets proved to be unfeasible. The European Commission said such speculation was “unhelpful”.

Meanwhile, Ms Burton said the cuts to rent benefits, a move expected to save €22m a year, was needed after a probe by her department found it was paying well in excess of market value to private landlords in many parts of the country.

Rental payments to landlords by social welfare tenants in some areas will be cut by as much as €270 a month in a bid to reduce the annual €500m bill to taxpayers.