THE ASSERTION in the Dáil by Tánaiste Mary Coughlan that many of the recommendations in the McCarthy report did not make sense is an indication of “disarray in Government”, according to Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore.
He said that the comment from Ms Coughlan, in response to a question he had asked during Leader’s Questions yesterday, was part of a pattern involving a number of Ministers refusing to take responsibility for the recommendations made in the McCarthy report.
“The attempt by the Tánaiste, Mary Coughlan, in the Dáil to distance herself from key recommendations made in the report of ‘An Bord Snip’ and the subsequent statement of rebuke by the Minister for Finance, in which he insisted that the report remained ‘key to the budgetary process’, is an indication of the disarray in Government,” said Mr Gilmore.
He added that since the report was published certain Government Ministers had tried to distance themselves from the recommendations, despite the fact that many of these were based on submissions made to McCarthy by the Department of Finance and other Government departments.
“It is the Government that has driven the cuts agenda from the very beginning and the whole purpose of the ‘Bord Snip’ process was to provide them with political cover.
“If Mary Coughlan genuinely believes that there are many aspects of the report ‘that do not make sense’, then there is an obligation on her to spell out which particular recommendations she feels make no sense and those she regards as making sense,” said Mr Gilmore.
He added he had twice provided her with the opportunity in the Dáil yesterday to categorically rule out the proposal to close down half of all Garda stations but she had twice declined the offer. “Clearly the plan to close 350 Garda stations does not fall into the category of those recommendations that Mary Coughlan regards as making no sense,” he said.
Fine Gael employment spokesman Leo Varadkar said the Tánaiste’s remarks exposed “an incompetent and dithering Government” that was floundering as the economy collapsed and unemployment rocketed.
“Now that Brian Cowen has set himself against tax increases and the recommendations of the Commission on Taxation and Mary Coughlan has now set out the Government’s opposition to the McCarthy report, it is clear that the Government has lost any residual trace of credibility on restoring our economy and public finances to good health.
“Coming on top of the Nama gamble to bail out the banks and developers it exposes the indecisive and self-serving style of governance that has brought our economy to its knees,” he said.
Mr Varadkar said the McCarthy report was commissioned specifically to identify savings in order to help the Government balance its books and end the State’s ever-growing dependency on debt.
“The Government has had all summer to consider the McCarthy report, which was published in July,” he said. “It now has just two months to prepare the most important budget ever drafted. Remember that it was the Tánaiste and her Government who commissioned the report, and drafted the terms of reference.
“Given that the Taoiseach has confirmed that the Commission on Taxation report has effectively been shelved, how exactly is this shambolic Government planning to cut the enormous, and growing, deficit?” asked the Fine Gael spokesman. “It seems to be a case of no tax increases, no spending cuts and no credible Government.”