Madam, - I just cannot get over the depth of Brian Lenihan's denial about the state of the economy and his ineptitude in addressing the problems that we face.
On Monday, he told us Ireland had been harder hit by the economic slowdown than any of its EU partners because it is an open economy with ties to the British and US economies. While both countries have recorded negative growth in the past quarter, Britain's economy is still expected to grow by 1.1 per cent in 2008 and America's economy will grow by 1.6 per cent. Ireland has recorded negative growth in the past two quarters (ie a recession) and the economy will shrink by 0.5 per cent or more in 2008.
We are in the midst of a deep domestic recession and are about to be hit by the effects of an impending recession in Western economies. There will be no global recession. The Minister for Finance really needs to understand this.
He also told us that he was "not blaming Europe". In fact, we should thank the European Commission for exposing the fact that the Budget will not ameliorate the fiscal crisis and for calling time on Ireland's spiral into massive borrowing.
I shudder to think how much Fianna Fáil would sink us into debt if it we were not bound by the European growth and stability pact. I shudder to think what would happen to financial institutions in Ireland if the European Central Bank withdrew the €60 billion that it has on loan to them. And I shudder to think how much we would have had to increase interest rates to beat off an attack on the punt, if it still existed. In Iceland, they've just gone up to 18 per cent. - Yours, etc,