STRONGLY WORDED political attacks were a feature of the resumed Budget debate.

The Minister of State for Science and Technology, Mr Pat Rabbitte, claimed that in a wide range of policy areas Fianna Fail was unhappy with the "strident selfishness" of the Progressive Democrats.

"In addition, the PDs believe their deputies are born to rule and Fianna Fail believe they have a divine right to rule unimpeded by any other expression thrown up by the electorate, and, certainly not the PD expression.

The simple truth, he added, was that no matter how much the PD strategists tried to transform the formidable Mr Michael McDowell into a soft and gooey "Mr Stay Puff Marshmallow", Fianna Fail was still afraid of him.

"If I were Fianna Fail, I would be afraid of him too. This is not personality politics, merely an acknowledgment that Deputy McDowell represents the cutting edge of the PDs. When in doubt, there will be no leaving Deputy McDowell out.

"Therefore, sections of the media may well be dazzled by Deputy Mary Harney's policy Dance of the Seven Veils, full of eastern promise. I will make Ireland the Hong Kong of Europe goes the chant as the first veil is cast aside. Don't count on us is the Fianna Fail response."

The Fianna Fail spokesman on justice, Mr John O'Donoghue, advised Mr Rabbitte to take the gun out of his holster before he pulled the trigger.

"There is no more nauseating spectacle on the fringes of the Irish body politic or the Cabinet room than the Dudley Moore of Irish politics, Deputy Pat Rabbitte, expounding on the virtues of the rainbow coalition.

"His pretentious pronunciations on the purity of his present cabal are only surpassed by the fallaciousness of his denunciations. Not content with taking the shilling, he now wants to bang the drum and lead the parade."

Mr Willie O'Dea (FF, Limerick East) said the last FF-PD government came to office after a period of substantial fiscal retrenchment, which had been forced on its predecessors by the excesses of the Garret FitzGerald led government between 1983 and 1987, and it was in that context in which the public expenditure record of the last FF-PD administration must be looked at.

The current Government had come to office against a background of unparalleled growth which had continued unabated. "So let us compare like with like and not make a virtue of comparing like with different and seek to put that up as a defence for this Budget ... This Budget has all the capacity to be the greatest catastrophe ever inflicted on the economy of this country."

The Fianna Fail spokesman on the environment, Mr Noel Dempsey, said the Budget had confirmed that while Fine Gael was in government, it was not in power. Fine Gael was the flexible friend in the troika - the largest party with the smallest say or in many cases with no say at all.

He said he had heard much rhetoric over the last few months from the so called left about the dangers of a FF-PD alliance.

"Spokespersons for the DL and Labour have attempted to terrorise people into voting for them by creating bogeymen and stirring up completely unfounded fears. They have attempted to portray themselves as the saviours of the poor and the socially excluded.

The Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton, said he was concerned about the apparent widespread and substantial increases proposed in drink prices. He was having discussions with the chairman of the Competition Authority about them. The Government had exercised enormous restraint in regard to excise duty on drink and wanted to see competition operating in the drink trade.

The Minister of State for Finance, Ms Avril Doyle, said the public sector could not automatically expand with each passing year. It should only expand in response to the legitimate demands made on it by the taxpayer, "the customer of public services".

The challenge was to strike a balance between the needs of users of the public service and the economy. The Budget was designed to find the correct balance and maintain it in the years ahead through multi annual budgetary projections.

Ms Mairin Quill (PD, Cork North Central) said that no previous Minister for Finance had a better opportunity to bring about a real reduction in tax rates, but Mr Quinn had opted for a minimalist approach, doing as little as possible.

"How can we be serious about tax reform, about rewarding effort about reducing unemployment, if we continue to ignore the crippling burden of taxation on people on modest incomes?" she asked.

The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Yates, referring to the restrictions on Irish beef exports because of the BSE crisis, said they were regrettable but he expected there would not be any undue impact on producer prices. He was confident that full Russian demand for Irish beef would be met in 1997 and would be met by counties not involved in the restrictions.

It was important that this critical market remained open to Irish beef, he said.