An MRBI opinion poll in tomorrow's Irish Times shows that more than seven out of ten voters believe the last budget was good for the country. The poll follows the European Commission's reprimand of the Government's economic policies, which was rejected by the Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy. He insisted that his policies were the best for Ireland and that he had no intention of revising the tax cuts and spending plans outlined in his fourth budget. Mr McCreevy accused the Commission of behaving in a disproportionate manner towards Ireland. The Taoiseach said that he totally agreed.
Meanwhile, the poll the first since the budget shows a significant increase in the popularity of the Government and a big rise in satisfaction with the coalition leaders. Some 58% are satisified with the Government's performance, up 15 points since September. The poll also shows a big increase in satisfaction with the coalition leaders, although support for John Bruton is slightly down.
Speaking in Dublin earlier, Mr McCreevy confirmed that what the European Commission wants him to do is to take hundreds of millions of pounds out of the economy through tax increases and expenditure cuts. He insisted that he had no intention of doing that. The Tánaiste also defended the Government's handling of the economy following yesterday's claim that the Government had stoked growing inflation. Mary Harney claimed that other countries would regard the Commission's censure as "bizarre”. She said that the coalition should be applauded not reprimanded for policies, which had created one of the most dynamic economies in Europe.
At the same time, at a meeting of the social partners, the Director-General of the employers' organisation, IBEC, described the censure as "alarmist", while the ICTU said that it appeared to be based on a misunderstanding of the level of development in Ireland. There was an apparently united front today against the EU Commission censure of just 24 hours ago.
The Director-General of the employers' organisation, IBEC, Turlough O'Sullivan, described the Commission decision as "alarmist", though he did go on to say that it was perhaps what he called "a timely wake-up call". He said that IBEC's concerns were more focused on the Budget decision to remove the ceiling on employers' PRSI - an issue on which he accused the Government of acting "in bad faith".
ICTU General Secretary, Peter Cassells, said that the Commission's view appeared based on a misunderstanding of the level of development of the Irish economy, with investment on housing, transport and childcare still essential.
