The Taoiseach said that he had been referring to London sources in recent remarks he made about those criticising the Irish economy. Mr Ahern was replying to the Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, who referred to the Taoiseach's comments at the Irish Management Institute conference in Killarney. "Who are the people the Taoiseach has in mind who are knocking the economy?" Mr Bruton asked.
Mr Ahern said that he was referring to people, particularly in the financial sector in London, who had predicted for five consecutive years that Ireland would go back into a recessionary position. "One financial house, in particular, has made such predictions from the start. This house disputed the term Celtic Tiger, which was introduced by an American magazine when I was minister for finance. It continued to make such references and it is a source of annoyance not only to me, but also to many Irish economists."
The Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, asked if the Taoiseach was referring to any Irish commentators. "No," replied Mr Ahern, "and I made that clear."
Mr Bruton asked: "Will the Taoiseach confirm that when he was talking about creeping Jesuses, he was talking about an entirely different set of people from the left-wing pinkos the Minister for Finance was talking about as criticising his policy, or were they talking about the same people? Was the Taoiseach, therefore, talking about left-wing pinkos in the City of London?" Mr Ahern replied: "I do not know what are left or right-wing pinkos."
Mr Bruton said the Taoiseach should advise the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, and himself, that the use of pejorative terms such as "creeping Jesus" or "left-wing pinkos" to describe people who made intelligent and constructive criticism, whether at home or abroad, of economic management in any country, suggested a degree of defensiveness. "That in itself is a cause of public insecurity. Will the Taoiseach accept the following advice from me: that he should not use such language to describe legitimate criticism of economic policy because it shows insecurity on his part and on the part of the Minister for Finance?"
Mr Ahern replied: "Any member of a government worth his or her salt has a right and an obligation to correct someone when that person is persistently and consistently wrong about major matters of fundamental economic policy in a country, regardless of whether that person is within or outside the country. That is what I did and that is my job."