A proposal by Green Party leader John Gormley to seek an all-party approach has not been rejected by Taoiseach Brian Cowen, it was claimed today.
Speaking this morning, Minister of State for Overseas Development Peter Power, said remarks made yesterday by the Taoiseach had been ‘misinterpreted’ by the media and that he would, in fact, welcome a 'national consensus' on the economy.
"What the Taoiseach said yesterday [was] that if a national consensus could be achieved on this, it would be most welcome. He would welcome it and his door is open to this," Mr Power said during an interview on RTÉ radio's Saturday View.
Mr Power said the Taoiseach had “initiated” a sequence of events by inviting the Opposition look at the “exact detail of the books” in order for them to formulate their own policies and that “a number of steps would flow from that.”
Commenting on whether he felt Mr Cowen's view of a common approach was positive, Mr Power said: “I don’t think he was unenthusiastic, I think as leader and as Taoiseach of the country he has to be very realistic because at the end of the day the responsibility will fall to him. It will fall to the government to actually make decisions.
“The point he is making is that if a number of steps could be taken to achieve this consensus it would be very worthwhile and very welcome”, Mr Power said.
"Once the analysis is done, once there is a common analysis, there could be a common solution", Mr Power said.
"I think it is a positive development. I think it deserves positive consideration."
Mr Power said that, barring Sinn Féin, the Opposition was in agreement on the need to reduce the deficit to 3 per cent of GDP by 2014 and went on to outline areas that may require agreement in order to bring about consensus.
“That’s a good starting position. Now, we have to do that within four years. There are three areas that need to be dealt with in that context and that is revenue generation, capital expenditure, raising taxes and current expenditure”, he added.
