Lenihan: 'Don't feel sorry for yourselves'

People must not feel sorry for themselves amidst the current recession but everybody must weather the storm together, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said today.

The TD’s address to the Fianna Fáil party’s Ard Fheis received a standing ovation from delegates after he told him that hard decisions must be taken by the Government to build a better economy and society in the years ahead.

The senior Coalition partner is gathering in Dublin as it faces the worst poll ratings in its history and as the Taoiseach and his ministers grapple with unprecedented economic challenges.

Mr Lenihan told delegates in the Citywest Hotel: “This is not a time to feel sorry for ourselves. This is a time to realise that if we take these hard decisions, we will have a better Ireland in the future.

“We are inclined to beat ourselves up too much. We have to recognise the huge strengths we have as a nation and an economy.”

Earlier Taoiseach Brian Cowen didn’t rule out the possibility of holding a mini-Budget in coming months to increase taxes and other revenue-raising measures.

“We will do whatever is necessary to bring order to our public finances,” he said.

But Mr Lenihan said any tax rises must not impact on jobs or competitiveness.

“There can be no return to the bad old days of 64% tax rates,” he told the party.

“Any changes we introduce have to be carefully considered so that they do not impact on employment or our competitiveness.

“Any tax changes must also be just and fair so that all who benefit from state services pay according to their means. If the main opposition parties have ideas about how we should progress on the issue of tax, I am prepared to listen.”

As the 72nd Ard Fheis resumed, Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin admitted that opinion poll ratings were causing concern in the party.

“From a party political point of view, it is very serious,” he told RTE Radio.

“But we have to transcend that because of the unprecedented nature of the financial and economic collapse around the world which is impacting very fundamentally on Ireland.”

He added: “I accept the statistics but we cannot be paralysed by opinion polls and by the volatility around popularity ratings.”

Transport Minister Noel Dempsey also acknowledged that the Government was failing to communicate with people about the challenges facing the country.

“There is a sense of bewilderment and fear out there. There is a sense of not knowing where we are going,” he said.

He added: “The big failure that we’ve had so far as a Government has been not communicating what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. It’s our fault as a Government, but the message is getting through to people now.”

Mr Lenihan also told delegates that people must discipline themselves so that the economy can weather the storm and emerge from it stronger than ever.

“Just as we were the first country to go into recession, we will be the first country to get out of it as well. That’s the ambition I have set myself,” he told delegates.

The TD said the same ingenuity, hard work and entrepreneurial spirit that built the economic miracle of the last twenty years can put the country back on the path to growth.

“This world recession will pass. We must all pull together to make sure Ireland can secure maximum benefit from the inevitable up turn,” he told delegates.