TAOISEACH Brian Cowen gave a staunch defence in the Dáil of his Government’s record in dealing with the economic crisis.

“Looking back, I doubt that any government has acted so decisively and with such energy in a short period or done so much political heavy lifting,” he said during noisy exchanges with the Opposition whose policies he criticised.

Opening the debate on the Budget, Mr Cowen claimed Fine Gael was seriously at odds with Labour “on the proportion of the adjustment that would be met from additional taxation”.

He claimed “the Labour Party’s tax policy is closer to Sinn Féin’s than it is to Fine Gael’s”.

But Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said the Taoiseach wanted to fight the general election “on your distorted version of what Opposition parties are saying. Taoiseach, you’re going to fight this election on your miserable record.”

Mr Cowen said despite the “economic tsunami” that hit Ireland all the social gains of the past decade “didn’t go out with the sea”.

He rejected calls that he should be “ashamed”.

He told a half-filled Dáil that he was “proud of all those progressive policies”.

In an emphatic speech in which he highlighted the social benefits of earlier in the decade, Mr Cowen claimed that up to 90 per cent of gains “can be maintained if we take the decisions now”.

He said “the levels of income support provided by the Irish State to those on welfare are still among the highest in Europe and we’re all proud of that”.

Mr Cowen told the Opposition it was “an incredible position to take” that the Fine Gael party was saying there was no need for income tax increases yet the Labour Party was saying there was no need for welfare cuts.

Minister for the Environment John Gormley defended the Green Party’s role in Government and said “in education, despite massive pressure, we protected the pupil-teacher ratio; we kept the capitation reductions very low; and ensured third-level tuition fees did not return”.