Fine Gael has accused the Government of ‘sleepwalking’ through the financial crisis after the Taoiseach Brian Cowen insisted the Government only learned of the disastrous exchequer returns on the morning of last Tuesday’s cabinet meeting.
The figures showed that in the first two months of the year, the exchequer posted an overall budget deficit of more than €2 billion compared to a deficit of just €125 million for January-February 2008.
“The admission today by the Taoiseach that he was unaware of the exchequer figures until Tuesday's cabinet meeting is both astonishing and disturbing,” said Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton
“It is intolerable that neither the Minister for Finance or the Taoiseach were not monitoring the trends in regard to the exchequer figures, given the grave state of the nations finances at present. Only a few days ago the Táinaiste claimed that the Government was in control, seemingly in denial as to the depth of the crisis we are in and now the Government has announced a new budget."
Mr Bruton said the lack of attention to detail at the top of Government was not surprising and was "causing the country to lurch from one crisis to the next, with no clear plan to restore economic stability or to create and
sustain jobs."
“This mindset, characterised by inertia, in no way gives people confidence that those with their hands on the economic tiller are in any way exerting control over the direction the country needs to take towards recovery," he said.