Labour Party conference: The Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, last night accused the Government of using spending cutbacks to build up a "war chest" for a spending spree before the next election.
Opening the party's 60th annual conference in Killarney, Mr Rabbitte rubbished the Government's economic performance and said ministers had nothing to offer but bluster and incoherence.
"The Irish economy is now in the tender care of a quite remarkable trio. A Taoiseach who thinks he works for Bord Fáilte, a Tánaiste who forgets what she said last year, and a Minister for Finance who forgets that the Dáil isn't Cheltenham," he said.
Claims by the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, that Ireland was tragically underborrowed were in sharp contrast with her previous resistance to borrowing, said Mr Rabbitte.
This reminded him of Groucho Marx, who said, "Those are my principles and if you don't like them, well, I have others."
Spending cutbacks had nothing to do with value for money or structural reform, he said. High inflation and rising unemployment were the direct results of reckless management of the economy.
"Fianna Fáil and the PDs want us to believe that all their cuts are necessary. They want to build up the war chest for the next election, curbing spending now in preparation for another pre-election splurge. That is how they managed the economy for the last five years.
"Inflation is running at twice the European average and the Government hitting family budgets with all manner of stealth taxes and charges."
In an opening address to his first annual conference since becoming leader last year, Mr Rabbitte criticised attempts by Ms Harney to reform the insurance market.
"The much-promised legislation to establish the Personal Injuries Assessment Board is a minor reform that was ready to be piloted in May 1997," he said.
"Now she dusts it down and endlessly presents it as her panacea to reduce insurance costs."
On Northern Ireland, Mr Rabbitte attacked the Democratic Unionist Party leader, Mr Ian Paisley, but reserved the brunt of his criticism for the IRA.
People were tired of endless semantics and opportunism from republicans, he said, calling for the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation to be reconvened to "arrive at a view as to what is required of the IRA at this stage in the process".
