Charlie McCreevy will be blamed for a lot this week but he was hardly bargaining on being accused of breaking Mary Harney's arm, a rumour started by the Tanaiste herself at the official opening of the IBM plant at Mulhuddart, Co Dublin, on Monday.

"It was Charlie McCreevy who did this to me," she stated, in an implicit reference to the tough negotiations between the coalition partners over the content of the Budget.

She had told him, she added, she would get better very fast if there were a few more tax cuts.

The Tanaiste went on to outline some of the advantages of having her right arm out of action: it meant she would be unable to spend money at Christmas and the sympathy vote could now be wooed if the "productivity" factor failed.