'Within a few years they wreck the economy' - Taoiseach warns against FF Govt
The Taoiseach has said there is a “real and serious risk that we could wake up on February 9 and find that we have a Fianna Fáil Government”.
Speaking at an IDA event convened to give Apple CEO Tim Cook a special award on the back of Apple’s 40th anniversary of setting up shop in Ireland, Leo Varadkar said that a poll at the weekend which shows Fianna Fáil 12 points ahead in the election race shows that his party is “going into this election behind and we are playing catch up”.
He said that “we all know how that ends” with regard to the prospect of a Fianna Fáil administration.
“Every single time that Fianna Fáil gets into office, twice in my lifetime alone, within a few years they have wrecked the economy, and that leads to unemployment, forced emigration, and people losing their homes,” Mr Varadkar said.
Earlier, in introducing the event to honour Mr Cook, the Taoiseach emphasised that flexible working is a key part of his party’s manifesto, as evidenced by the controversial €3bn National Broadband Plan, and took the opportunity to attack his political opponents..
“The fact the Government has signed the national broadband contract makes that (working from home) possible,” he said.
My opponents say that they will tear up the contract. Don’t believe them, they’re not going to do that. And they’re not going to get in anyway so it doesn’t matter.
He defended Ireland’s enthusiasm for foreign direct investment (FDI), saying that those companies pay in tax “pretty much what it costs to run our entire education system”.
Speaking to the media after the event, Mr Varadkar said that he expected the two televised head-to-head debates between himself and Micheal Martin will be the “ones that people focus on”.
Regarding changes in corporation taxes and what impact they may have on giant companies like Apple, the Taoiseach said he is a “firm believer” in big companies paying their “fair share of taxes”.
He said that his own party’s financial plans have “factored in” the expected loss of wholesale corporation tax receipts for the next five years.
“They’re Brexit-proofed and proofed against any reduction in corporation tax. You’re not seeing that from the other parties, the minute they see a surplus they want to spend it. When you do that the surplus isn’t there when you actually need it,” he said.
That’s why we shouldn’t trust them with the country.
Meanwhile, Mr Varadkar has been formally invited by the mayor of Drogheda, Paul Bell, to a protest to be held in Drogheda on Saturday against the prevalence of gangland crime in the Louth town in the aftermath of the brutal murder of 17-year-old Keane Mulready Woods.
Last week, when visiting the town, the Taoiseach had been non-committal about attending the event.
Mr Bell, speaking to local radio station , said that the protest would be a “non-political rally”, but added that if Mr Varadkar is in a position to attend he would be afforded the opportunity to speak at the event.
Fine Gael had not responded to a query as to whether the Taoiseach will attend at the time of publication.
