Fianna Fáil's Charlie McCreevy has rejected suggestions that a new financial agency he is proposing amounts to borrowing by a different name. Mr McCreevy was speaking as Fianna Fáil announced details of the economic strategies it would pursue if returned to government.
At the launch of its manifesto yesterday, Fianna Fáil made a number of pledges. This morning the party outlined how it intended to pay for these pledges. According to Fianna Fáil figures, these promises would cost more than €20bn over the next five years. Half of that would come from direct exchequer borrowing.
To cover the rest, the party has proposed the establishment of a new agency to develop the idea of Public-Private Partnerships. Charlie McCreevy said that the private sector was very anxious to invest money, and that this new agency would marry it to suitable public sector projects.
Mr McCreevy said that there was no trickery and rejected suggestions that this was borrowing under a different name. He said that a government of Fine Gael and Labour could cost thousands of jobs through a return to the days of high borrowing and tax.
Earlier, the Fine Gael front-bencher, Alan Dukes, described plans announced in the Fianna Fáil manifesto for a National Development Finance Agency as a damp squib. Sinn Féin dismissed the new agency as an election gimmick.
The Labour Party accused Fianna Fáil of issuing economic figures that are so flawed as to be fraudulent. Labour’s finance spokesperson Derek McDowell claimed that the "funny money" culture in Fianna Fáil had not gone away.
Fianna Fáil leader Bertie Ahern defended the plan, saying that the agency would provide a faster and more efficient way of financing projects such as schools and hospitals.
Speaking at the IMI annual conference in Killarney this morning, Mr Ahern said that the proposed agency did comply with EU guidelines on national accounts and a Fianna Fáil government would keep the public finances close to balance or in surplus over the next five years.
