Taoiseach Brian Cowen has again acknowledged that he shares the blame for mistakes made by the Government during his time as Minister for Finance and Taoiseach.
In a speech to the North Dublin Chamber of Commerce last night, Mr Cowen defended his handling of the economy in the years prior to the beginning of the economic crisis.
Read Taoiseach Brian Cowen's speech in full here
Watch Mr Cowen's speech here
Speaking on RTE Radio this afternoon, the Taoiseach said that, in hindsight, he should have introduced a property tax to cool the property boom.
Mr Cowen said there would be further adjustments to be made in future Budgets and contributions would have to be made.
He also rejected suggestions that the Government was attempting to 'soften up' pensioners for a cut in the state pension, after the Minister for Social Protection Eamon O Cuiv said he could not rule out the possibility of cuts.
Fine Gael's Finance spokesman Richard Bruton criticised last night's remarks by the Taoiseach.
Mr Bruton described the remarks as a pathetic attempt to pre-empt the findings of the preliminary banking enquiry. But a spokesman for the Taoiseach said he absolutely rejected Mr Bruton's claim.
In last night's wide ranging speech, the Taoiseach said the crisis caused untold damage and that those who engaged in fraud will be pursued by the gardaí with determination.
He told his audience that while many would expect him to ascribe the banking crash to international factors alone that was not his view.
There had been domestic vulnerabilities, but at the time, authorities from the International Monetary Fund down had concluded that the Irish economy was robust enough to withstand the shocks, he said.
