The Minister for Finance has rounded on backbench and Cabinet critics of his economic policies with a trenchant defence of low taxes as the engine of the Republic's economic prosperity, writes John McManus
In a speech last night to executives of one of the country's biggest multinational employers, Mr McCreevy said "employment-friendly tax policies have been the key to our recent economic success".
His remarks follow criticism by Fianna Fáil backbenchers that the tight fiscal policies followed since the 2002 general election cost the party seats in the recent European and local elections.
The Minister for Communications, Mr Dermot Ahern, voiced the backbenchers' concerns last weekend when he suggested that policy was overly influenced by the liberal economic ideology of the junior partners in the coalition, the Progressive Democrats.
He spoke of the danger of letting "unbridled market forces shape our country".
Mr Ahern said that low taxes were not an an end in themselves and had to deliver greater social opportunities.
Last night Mr McCreevy told executives from Wyeth Medica that low taxes had "contributed very significantly to our record low rate of unemployment and the creation of 52.300 new jobs in Ireland".
In an oblique reference to Mr Ahern's remarks, he said "these people are paying tax which gives me the resources to invest in public services such as health, education and pension.
"My ability to provide the necessary resources to my ministerial colleagues is conditional on the resources available to me. Creating the economic conditions which best encourage investment and job creation is, therefore, critical to our continued success and central to the well-being of all in our society, particularly those who depend on vital public services."
Mr McCreevy also claimed there was support for the low tax approach amongst voters.
"Our low-tax strategy has paid huge dividends and is, I am certain, strongly supported by the Irish people, as evidenced by the results of the last general election when the economy and its management were central campaign issues."
He also cited an opinion poll taken last autumn which found that only 9 per cent of those polled favoured raising taxes to bridge the gap between Government spending and revenue.