Greens attack Labour performance

The Green Party has criticised the Labour Party at a press conference to mark the Coalition’s first year in office, claiming Fine Gael and the Department of Finance are running the Government.

Party leader Eamon Ryan said the key decision made by the new Government in their first day in office was that Fine Gael rather than Labour would hold the finance brief.

"All the political posturing from Labour in opposition on the economic crisis was abandoned, as Eamon Gilmore turned what he had called treason into his new reason," said Mr Ryan.

He said the Government had largely adopted the banking and budgetary policy of the previous government. He added that it would be wrong for the Greens not to acknowledged the Government's success in pursuing those policies which has given them room for manouevre.

However, he and the party's finance spokesman Mark Dearey criticised  Government policies for failing to achieve fairness or equity. Mr Dearey said the Budget unveiled last December was the first regressive Budget in five years and had adversely affected poorer families due to cuts in allowances such as child benefit.

Mr Ryan directed his criticism on what he called failures to introduce any real stimulus measures.

"The Labour Party seems to have lost its way. They have forgotten everything that John Maynard Keynes had to say. They run for cover every time they are asked a hard question," he claimed.

The party's enterprise spokeswoman Marianne Butler said the Government was still stuck in an older analogue world and had not embraced new technological opportunities such as the Digital Content Services Centre and the Green IFSC.

Enterprise spokesman Ciarán Cuffe said the cuts in public service numbers had been made across the board rather than prioritising spending in some areas and changing work practices in other areas.

Asked how the party would approach the referendum on the fiscal compact, Mr Ryan said he personally favoured a Yes vote but the issue would have to be decided by the party at a special convention.