The Minister for Finance insisted today that the Government’s budgetary strategy remains on course in response to criticism after yesterday’s EU reprimand.
Speaking in the Dáil today, Mr McCreevy also said that contrary to media reports yesterday the EU Council of Ministers did not vote on the issue and it was wrong to say the other member states voted against Ireland.
Minister McCreevy said he did not believe the ECOFIN response was either proportionate or even-handed and pointed out the comparative performance of the Irish economy relative to other EU countries.
He said the EC and Broad Economic Policy Guidelines advise Ireland to seek to achieve economic stability, which he said is exactly what the Government has sought to do by amongst other things securing the continuation of social partnership and delivering the largest fiscal surplus in the EU.
Last night the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, insisted that fiscal matters were a concern for individual member-states.
She said spending on health, social services and infrastructure needed to be increased and taxation reduced in the next Budget.