FIRST 100 DAYS:EUROPEAN LEADERS must "step up to the mark", put aside their domestic agendas and support countries like Ireland which were working towards economic recovery, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said.
At a joint news conference with Tánaiste and Labour leader Eamon Gilmore to mark the Coalition’s first 100 days in office, Mr Kenny delivered the message to Ireland’s EU partners from Government Buildings yesterday.
Although he did not name French president Nicolas Sarkozy or German chancellor Angela Merkel, his words were clearly intended for their ears.
“This is a financial crisis. It is not a sociopolitical experiment to see how far the Irish people can be pushed . . . European leaders had better step up to the mark and take the lead . . . and at this crucial juncture, support countries who are clearly achieving targets and working towards recovery,” the Taoiseach said.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore said: “No previous Irish government has ever inherited such a complex emergency. There is no silver bullet that will solve all our difficulties. But we will succeed, the way the Irish people always have: by sheer hard graft and determination.”
The Government had prioritised jobs from day one, he said. “We have slimmed down the cost of Government, starting with our own salaries.”
The Government had also restored the minimum wage, “because there is a threshold of decency which we will honour”.
The Taoiseach was questioned about unfulfilled Fine Gael election pledges that within 100 days the party would publish legislation to abolish Seanad Éireann and enact legislation to reduce Dáil numbers by 20.
Mr Kenny replied: “Well, we actually haven’t done everything that we said we would do in the first 100 days, and indeed, some of the things that we have done, have been quite different than we actually did say.”
On political reform, the Minister for the Environment was drafting legislation for reduced corporate donations, cutting the number of Dáil deputies and requiring parties to ensure at least 30 per cent of election candidates were women.
Asked if there would be any income tax increases in this year’s budget, the Taoiseach said that in refusing to comment on this matter recently, the Minister for Finance had “adhered strictly to the principle that all ministers for finance have adhered to . . . not to comment on what might or might not be in any particular budget”.
Mr Kenny added: “But as head of Government, I can say this: In respect of the programme for government . . . there will not be any income tax increases in the budget. And I say that, because it is fundamental to the programme for government and . . . it is important that people be able to have some planning to be able to put into their lives. And for that reason, that element of the programme . . . is one that we will adhere to very strictly and very clearly.”
When asked if the promise to maintain social welfare rates still held, the Tánaiste said: “Yes it does, the entire commitments in the programme . . . remain the Government policy.”
Asked if he was consulted by the Minister for Finance before Mr Noonan’s comments in Washington on burning senior bondholders, the Tánaiste said: “The issue of senior bondholders is something that has been long-settled Government policy.”
