POLITICAL REACTION:THE DECISION by Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan to make a further €2 billion available to Anglo Irish Bank would shock and horrify taxpayers, Opposition parties said last night.

Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton said the decision “will horrify taxpayers who are bracing themselves for €3 billion worth of tax hikes and cutbacks this year”.

Labour finance spokeswoman Joan Burton said that ordinary taxpayers would be “completely shocked” at Mr Lenihan’s move.

In a statement, the Fine Gael spokesman said: “This  confirms the worst of our fears about Brian Lenihan’s strategy for Anglo Irish Bank. The  Minister  expects  to bail out the bank with ever larger sums of taxpayers’ money.

“Yet the bank guarantee is sucking us into an ever deeper recapitalisation of Anglo Irish as new losses continue to be identified in the bank’s loan-book,” Mr Bruton added.

“From  the  start  Fine Gael warned that Brian Lenihan’s strategy for Anglo Irish  contains fundamental weaknesses. Anglo Irish is a failed bank which won’t play  any  role  in Ireland’s economic recovery. It should have been wound down in an orderly manner from the outset.

“As  taxpayers brace themselves for €3 billion in tax increases and cuts in the next Budget they will be appalled at the casual way in which Minister Lenihan  has tipped another €2 billion into Anglo Irish. This is dead money which only adds to Ireland’s indebtedness,” Mr Bruton concluded.

Ms Burton said: “Ordinary  taxpayers will be completely shocked to learn today that they are to bail Anglo Irish Bank out with a further €2 billion.

“This follows the €4 billion injection in 2009 and the €8.3 billion made available by way of a promissory note to the bank on March 31st, 2010.

“The Minister threatened at the time of his March speech that he was considering putting a further €10 billion into the failed bank, and this is clearly the first instalment.”

Ms Burton added in a statement: “At  the  time  of the blanket bank guarantee Minister Lenihan and the Taoiseach said  it would  be  the cheapest guarantee around,  and  that  it would effectively  cost the  taxpayer  nothing.

“So far it has cost us €14.3 billion in relation  to  Anglo  alone, in direct  injections, paid for by government borrowing which will make our debt figures look weaker.”