TAOISEACH ENDA Kenny should clarify whether or not the Government has a back-up plan in the event of a Greek default on sovereign debt, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said.
He said the Coalition seemed to have adopted a “piecemeal approach” to the euro zone crisis.
The Government had yet to indicate how it will respond if Greece defaults in the coming days, he added. A response needed to be disclosed as a matter of urgency.
“Is there any scenario planning? Does the Government have a plan, or a back-up plan, or a Plan B in the event of default? The Government needs to be very clear to the people that they are planning proactively for a number of scenarios,” said Mr Martin.
The Fianna Fáil leader was speaking yesterday at the conclusion of his party’s two-day parliamentary party meeting in Tallaght, Dublin.
Mr Martin renewed his attack on what he portrayed as Mr Kenny’s failures to present Ireland’s case at a European level.
“I find it incredible that the Taoiseach has not had a substantive bilateral meeting with another European leader. What is the status of his diplomatic initiative when he has not met with one other European leader? He has been standing back far too much,” he said.
Mr Martin also said Fianna Fáil would contest the Dublin West byelection in October to fill the seat left vacant by the late Brian Lenihan. He said five candidates had advanced their names for the selection convention and that many of the party’s elected representatives and members would converge on the constituency. He would not be drawn on whether the party could improve on its fourth position in Dublin West in the general election.
He said the session at the meeting on job creation had placed particular emphasis on helping indigenous Irish companies improve their export performance. Speakers had identified investment in research and training for those out of work.
He also disclosed that Fianna Fáil’s private members’ motions in the upcoming Dáil session would include home protection measures for families struggling with debt; a motion on the crisis facing the national dairy herd; and a motion that would argue for recognition for a Palestinian state.
On Dublin West, he said that people in the constituency were conscious of the status of the party and of the positive Lenihan legacy. “We are very determined to fight a competitive campaign . . . It’s part of the renewal programme.”
When it was put to him that Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness had said the party would be focusing on Fianna Fáil and Labour in its efforts to build in the South, Mr Martin said he did not “look over my shoulder”.
He said Sinn Féin in the North had been “very poor in carrying out their executive functions and responsibilities”.