ELECTION PAMPHLET:A FINE Gael briefing document for party candidates and canvassers includes strong criticism of Labour.
The document advises canvassers to attack Labour’s tax proposals and claims the party will increase taxes by more than €500 for the average family.
It also claims Labour will not name any specific cuts to reduce the national deficit “because they don’t want to offend the unions”.
“We’ve just had one party running things that was too close to special interests like the banks and developers. We can’t afford another that is too close to a new set of special interests, like the unions,” it states.
The pamphlet, in question and answer format, also suggests ways of responding to voters who say they would vote for Fine Gael if it replaced Enda Kenny as leader. Canvassers are advised to emphasise the team aspect of Fine Gael as well as its five-point plan.
“Fine Gael has a strong team to put that plan into place – along with Enda Kenny, leaders like Michael Noonan, Richard Bruton and Leo Varadkar,” it states.
Another suggested answer is: “It would be a big mistake to vote for charisma, if it’s not backed up by a solid plan. Look at Labour, they are promising higher taxes and refusing to name any specific cuts to fix the deficit,” it states.
The document includes “attack points” on every Fianna Fáil Minister including Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan and features a page devoted to “killer quotes from the two Brians”.
Mr Cowen is quoted as saying in November 2006: “My best forecast is for a soft landing”. Also quoted is Mr Lenihan’s prediction that the blanket guarantee for banks was the “cheapest bailout in the world”.
Five attack points are included for the new Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin. He is blamed for the chaos at the Passport Office and for “waste of money, [in the] hugely expensive renovations to ambassadorial residences” including almost €5 million spent in Ottawa.
Attack point number five for Mr Martin states: “Martin’s record of indecisiveness: Martin as minister for health earned a reputation for commissioning but not implementing large numbers of reports, over 110 as minister.”
Green Party leader John Gormley comes in for sharp criticism. The former minister for the environment’s plan to have a directly-elected mayor for Dublin is criticised saying the position would be “without real power but with a real price tag that will have to be met from increased taxes on local business”.
It also claims the Coalition made “U-turns in waste policy” that cost jobs and that it “has only reached climate change targets because of the collapse of the economy”. It adds that the water network is not fit for purpose.
The pamphlet is critical of the Government’s record on crime, saying the rate of gun killings in Ireland is five times that of England and Wales and drugs “have swamped Ireland and are destroying young people in every town and village”.
