THE OUTCOME of the talks between the Government and the social partners on an economic package would be known by the end of the week, Taoiseach Brian Cowen told the Dáil.
During heated exchanges, he also defended his performance as Taoiseach which Fine Gael described as weak and indecisive.
Mr Cowen said he had undertaken before Christmas to use January to work with the social partners to ensure that people fully understood the scale of the problem, that this would require a national effort, that people must buy into the requirements of the situation to meet the real political, economic and social challenges facing the State.
“That is being finalised this week and weekend. I said I would do that because I believe it is the way forward.”
The Taoiseach was replying to Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, who said it was 40 days since the House last met.
“In that time the Government and the Taoiseach have wandered through an economic desert bereft of ideas, decisions, direction and, dare I say it, the courage to govern.
“In that period, we were told that it was necessary to cut €2 billion from public spending. The Government went on holidays, sent papers to, and held meetings with, the social partners and borrowed €55 million a day to keep the nation going.”
Mr Kenny claimed that the Government’s indecision had “damaged our international standing and made us the butt of international jokes”.
People were frightened out of their wits at the loss of, and inability to protect, jobs, and because the Government was offering neither leadership nor direction on its plan, strategy or the decisions it intended to take to move the economy forward.
Insisting that progress was being made in the talks with the social partners, Mr Cowen said: “I cannot say tonight that we have agreement on those issues, but I believe that the process of engagement is the best method by which we can bring the country behind us to face up to the real situation out there at the moment.” He said that when the Government made its decisions in the coming days, it would report to the House.
“We can debate them here if we so wish. I have no problem with democratic accountability, but as long as I am running this Government, I will run it as I see fit, and as I believe, based on my philosophy.” He said that if Mr Kenny had another way of suggesting how the country could be run, that was a matter for him and he would respect him for it.
“However, I will run the country on the basis of how I see it.”
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said that the elected representatives of all the people were in the House and that the Taoiseach was not free to run the Government as he saw fit.
“He is free to run the Government in accordance with the authority he derives from this House, as long as he is accountable and responds to this House for his actions.”
Mr Cowen said he was not suggesting that he could run the House other than by the authority of the Dáil. “When I was arguing my case in response to Deputy Kenny, I made the point that I have a responsibility to do this job as I believe it should be done, for as long as I hold it.
“I am as committed a democrat as anyone else,” the Taoiseach added.
Sinn Féin’s Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin demanded that the Taoiseach provide TDs with copies of the framework document he had circulated to the social partners.
Members, in the absence of that information, were being asked to participate in an economic debate without the full raft of information necessary to inform their participation, he added.
