FF adopting 'beggar my neighbour' approach to Budget, says Gilmore
Fianna Fáil is causing division and conflict by forcing through controversial Budget plans slashing public spending, the Labour Party claimed today.
Leader Eamon Gilmore said the senior coalition party was determined to pit the private and public sectors against each other and see certain workers demonised.
Accepting the need for the Government’s projected €4bn savings, the Labour chief said he would be tabling alternative proposals to kick-start the economy.
Mr Gilmore said: “The Fianna Fáil approach is simple – it’s called beggar my neighbour.
“They have chosen to sow division and to engender conflict.
“To set private sector against public sector, employed against unemployed.
“To identify particular groups in society, to demonise them, and to target them.”
As the country braces itself for a potentially crippling one-day national strike later in the month over cuts to pay and services, Mr Gilmore said the Government must acknowledge that workers have already suffered wage reductions.
“I can tell you now, that if, in bad times, you walk all over people, if you trample them down rather than negotiate with them, then, in better times, they will get their own back,” he said.
Mr Gilmore unveiled five alternative proposals to kick-start the economy, including a coherent jobs strategy and a guarantee that people having difficulty repaying their mortgages will not lose their homes in the recession.
The party also called for a negotiated deal on how to cut the public-sector wage bill and a commitment from trade unions that no strike action will be taken if all actions are followed through.
But Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe hit back at the Labour leader, claiming his desire not to see social welfare targeted is unrealistic.
Earlier in the week, Mr Gilmore berated Taoiseach Brian Cowen for not rowing back on plans to axe the social welfare Christmas top-up.
“Mr Gilmore says he accepts that we need to save €4bn this year - but he rules out touching the €21.3bn social welfare budget,” Mr O’Keeffe said.
“More than that, he wants to restore the Christmas bonus at a cost of €223m without saying where the money would come from.
“What’s needed now is a sense of realism from the Labour Party about how €4bn in savings can be found.”
Some 65,000 teachers yesterday voted in favour of strike action later in the month.
Nurses also voted four to one earlier in the week for a walk-out.
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