Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has sharply rejected criticism of his party’s banking policy by former leader Alan Dukes.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio yesterday, Mr Dukes said the plan was “very doubtful of success” and lacked the clarity of the Government proposal for a National Asset Management Agency (Nama).
"Alan Dukes is a public watchdog director of Anglo-Irish Bank which clearly would benefit from the Nama structure," Mr Kenny told reporters at the start of a two-day "think-in" organised by the Fine Gael parliamentary party in Cavan.
Asked if he was implying Mr Dukes was making his argument because of his Anglo-Irish Bank position, he said he was not implying any such thing.
"I'm merely saying that Alan is a public watchdog director on the board of a bank, which has carried on in outrageous fashion in the past, which is the subject of a number of investigations, and obviously bankers want Nama to be put through because they stand to benefit from it," he said.
The comments by Mr Dukes came in the wake of an
Irish Timescolumn by another former Fine Gael leader, former taoiseach Dr Garret FitzGerald, who suggested that bringing down the Government over Nama would place the economy in the hands of the International Monetary Fund.
Mr Kenny said the Fine Gael proposal was "defendable".
"It is clear, of course, that the financial world and the Government and the banking situation have a clear interest in having the Nama-type proposal put through. Why wouldn't they, when they expect to benefit greatly from it?"
Asked if there were any circumstances under which he could consider supporting Nama if the Minister made appropriate amendments, he said: "Fine Gael as a major political party, of which I am the leader, have set out our view for many months now on our proposed structure which we feel is simpler, less costly to the economy and fairer in the interests of the taxpayer and business and we're perfectly entitled to have that viewpoint.
"The Government proposal at the moment – and we still don't know what it is in final terms – does not meet those criteria."
Mr Kenny said he was "upset" at the attitude adopted towards his deputy leader and finance spokesman Richard Bruton in an RTE interview, "when he wasn't given an opportunity to answer questions which were raised".
Fine Gael TDs and Senators attended a private discussion yesterday afternoon with economist Colm McCarthy, who chaired the "Bord Snip Nua" group which recently recommended a series of extensive cutbacks in government expenditure.
