Fine Gael TD for Dublin Fingal, Alan Farrell has said that comments made by Brian Cowen in an interview with TG4 expose the incompetence and complacency of Fianna Fáil during their disastrous 14 years in government.
“Fianna Fáil have hidden behind excuses regarding Ireland’s economic collapse
but Brian Cowen’s comments lay bare the truth that the last government did
nothing to prevent it.
“That they believed there would be a ‘soft landing’ and avoided warnings of the
impending economic collapse highlights the extent of incompetence and
complacency at Cabinet under Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen. An ever present
member of that Cabinet was current Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, who
continues to avoid responsibility for the mess his party left the country in.
“Had that government been on the ball, it would have had concrete plans in
place for an economic downturn. This could have helped turn the ship and slow
down the prospect of economic decline. Cowen’s comments are a clear admittal that the government was asleep at the wheel.
“Brian Cowen was Minister for Finance from 2004 to 2008 during which time he
indulged in ‘giveaway’ budgets designed to keep Fianna Fáil in power; did nothing to tackle rampant property prices; gave tax breaks to property developers and turned a
blind eye to the lack of oversight of our financial institutions.
“We are all paying the price for this now. Fianna Fáil’s economic incompetence
directly led to:
250,000 job losses;
100,000 people in severe mortgage difficulty and tens of thousands more struggling to pay their mortgage;
Successive stringent budgets.
“Brian Cowen’s interview is a timely reminder of how Fianna Fáil’s populist,
election driven economic policies destroyed our economy and imposed economic
hardship on the Irish people.”