We must not tolerate cuts deception

DURING the election campaign Charlie McCreevy, the Minister for Finance, denied that the Government was aware of impending cost overruns and was planning to cut back on spending.

He stated baldly in a letter to the Fine Gael leader on May 13 that there were "no significant overruns projected and no cutbacks whatsoever are being planned secretly or otherwise".

The Irish Examiner produces conclusive evidence today that the minister's statement was untrue. Documents just released under the Freedom of Information Act show that as early as February 26, 2002, departments were told to cut 13 million euro from their budgets so that money could be diverted into initiatives of the Departments of Health and Justice for announcements to be made during the general election campaign.