Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Labour leader Pat Rabbitte traded insults in the Dáil over Mr Ahern's election promises at Fianna Fáil's weekend ardfheis.
The Labour leader claimed the Taoiseach had done a U-turn on economic prudence in his ardfheis address, despite sending out Government Ministers to denounce auction politics.
But Mr Ahern said that they had been reforming the tax system for the past 20 years and cutting taxes while the economy remained strong. Defending his election promises, he said that everything was costed and within the parameters of the Government's budgets over the past number of years.
Mr Rabbitte told the Taoiseach that "nobody would believe what you say. You're only short of playing cricket on some spare patch of ground. You jump on the bandwagon for anything that becomes popular. The only thing you recycle is other people's ideas."
Mr Ahern retorted that "you've a hard neck to get up and start saying to me that I have come on side for tax reform". He added that Mr Rabbitte used to believe "that the country was doing well when the debt ratio was 120 per cent and we borrowed heavily. You believed that society was better when we were borrowing billions and raising taxes. I congratulate you for joining us.
"It took you 20 years but I always knew you were a nice person and that you would come around to my way of thinking some time in my lifetime."
The row started when Mr Rabbitte said the Taoiseach had sent out Minister for Social and Family Affairs Séamus Brennan last week to a press conference where he was "shocked", "aghast" and "alarmed" by Opposition tax proposals, when on Saturday the Taoiseach unleashed a "Niagara of promises" including 53 commitments, costing €300 million for each of the 30 minutes of the Taoiseach's speech.
The Labour leader asked the full cost of the Taoiseach's promises and what had happened to pledges of prudence. Mr Ahern said that "we declared that if the economy remains strong, we will cut taxes. As we have done for 20 years we will continue to reform the taxation system and reduce tax rates."
Mr Rabbitte asked the Taoiseach to "answer the questions for a change. What is the cost of this Niagara of destruction?" He added that "a woman came up to me on the street yesterday and told me that she was watching the Taoiseach on Saturday night. She said she thought the Taoiseach's nose would come through the screen. She said she did not believe a word you said."
Government chief whip Tom Kitt quipped: "Is that the same woman Deputy Rabbitte is always meeting?"
