Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats did not "seek to mislead" voters about the state of the State's finances during the general election campaign, the Taoiseach insisted last night.
Speaking in Tralee, Co Kerry, Mr Ahern defended the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, who has been under attack since the accidental release of a Department of Finance memorandum which suggested that further cutbacks in State expenditure would be necessary.
The memo was drafted within weeks of the general election.
The state of the Exchequer's finances and the Government's view of the international downturn were fully revealed by the Minister for Finance for months before the general election, Mr Ahern told Radio Kerry.
Speaking from the Brandon Hotel, Mr Ahern said: "The world and his mother and brother knew what the figures were. They were analysed by excellent economists. They did know what the figures were."
In the last few days, the head of the US Federal Reserve, Mr Alan Greenspan, and the International Monetary Fund had said that the forecast for the international economy was "looking worse".
"Everyone in the financial pages says it, \ Charlie McCreevy says it and everybody starts jumping up saying that he did not warn us properly," Mr Ahern said firmly.
Questioned about the reaction to the Department of Finance memo, he said: "I have watched what people are saying and the way that people are looking at things. I am disappointed at that . . . I am listening to the people. I hear what people are saying. I reiterate that we dealt with the figures as they were and we did not set out to deceive anybody."
He said he had made "endless speeches" last year pointing out that the 11.6 per cent growth rate experienced by the Irish economy in the first quarter of 2001 had fallen to just 0.1 per cent in the last quarter.
However he noted that Ireland was still enjoying a 3 per cent annual growth rate.
"It has not become a catastrophe, it has worsened. The economy has worsened. We are not doing too badly."
At the recent ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) summit in Copenhagen, he had "listened to the litany of woe" from Asian countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam and Singapore.
"We are still growing by 3 per cent. There are difficulties, but nothing like the difficulties of the past. I am sorry that people are disappointed. We did not seek to mislead and we will continue to do our best," he declared.
