Charlie McCreevy will make Santa Claus look like Scrooge on Wednesday, the Fine Gael Spokesman on Finance, Michael Noonan, said this week when he addressed the Association of European Journalists on his alternative budget.
Noonan said McCreevy was like a general in Chechnya with all the artillery. But those who won the battle didn't always win the war. The Government was not dealing with the quality-of-life issues. Who wanted to be rich if you couldn't enjoy it? He called on the Minister to use the Budget as an instrument of policy and to develop a spatial plan. As an example, he said the Government had ordered a millennium candle for every house, but it wouldn't fit in the letterbox.