FORMER FINE Gael minister for finance Richie Ryan has urged the Government to take tough decisions on the economy and added his voice to calls for a reduction in the number of junior Ministers.
Mr Ryan served in the FG-Labour coalition from 1973 to 1977 when there was a sharp downturn in the economy. “If you take the wrong decisions, I think you will never forgive yourself,” he said.
Mr Ryan said an income levy was the kind of measure which had to be accepted in the short-term. It was a question of whether people were saved from unemployment by reducing labour costs.
“That is one of the things the Government has failed to tackle in recent years. And that is why we are so uncompetitive and losing out much more than many other countries in the present worldwide climate.”
In an interview in the RTÉ Radio programme, News at One, Mr Ryan said there ought to be more to politics than transient popularity. The criticism of the Government was justified, he added. “The budget of last October showed the Government floundering and floundering ever since.”
Declaring that it was “highly advisable” to reduce the number of junior Ministers, Mr Ryan said that people were shocked by the number which could not be justified at any time. He said one of his government’s achievements in the 1970s was that the Republic became the fastest growing economy in Europe.
