Economy: The Government is preparing to offer the electorate the biggest budget bribe in the history of the State to bolster its position in the next election, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny maintained yesterday at the end of his party's two- day strategy meeting in Sligo.
He said that the chief economist with Friends First, Jim Power, who was one of the guest speakers at the meeting, had forecast that Minister for Finance Brian Cowen would be able to come up with €3 billion to give away in the budget.
Mr Kenny expressed his confidence that regardless of a budget giveaway, or the coming on stream of the SSIA money next year, the Government would still be removed from office because the public was tired of its incompetence.
"I have been through 10 elections and I have seen the tide come in and the tide go out. It is clear from the trend that the tide is going out for the Government as a result of its waste of public money, its failure to deal with the health service, the increasing level of crime and disorder and the way it has punished the consumer by driving up prices," Mr Kenny said.
He said Fine Gael and Labour would be producing their own economic policy document in response to the budget and he was confident the voters would see that the alternative government was capable of doing a better job.
Responding to the charge that the Opposition did not have the competence to keep the economy going on a strong footing, the party's finance spokesman, Richard Bruton, said that he was prepared to stand over a comparison between the rainbow government in which Fine Gael and Labour had participated and the current Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats' Coalition.
Mr Bruton said that when the rainbow government left office in 1997, inflation was much lower than it is now; tax as a percentage of gross national product was less under the rainbow than under Fianna Fáil and the PDs, despite all the boasting they did about cutting tax; and employment was growing in export industries rather than in construction and the public service as it is now.
"Spending has risen by 11 per cent a year under the Fianna Fáil- PD Coalition. Spending on justice has doubled but there is more crime on our streets. Spending on health has trebled since 1997 but we have a poorer health service than we had," Mr Bruton said.
"The problem with this Government is that while they have spent a lot of money they have not delivered."
He said the approach being taken by Fine Gael and Labour would keep taxes low but it would tackle the waste and mismanagement that had characterised the Government in recent years.
Mr Bruton said the two parties would not shirk the challenge of reforming the public service to make people accountable for their performance and to reward those that delivered.
At yesterday's session IDA chief Seán Dorgan addressed the party gathering in the Park Hotel on the issue of public sector reform while Mr Power outlined challenges facing the economy.