Kenny: I'll need ten years to fix the economy

ILA

Link: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/kenny-ill-need-10-years-to-fix-economy-2335225.html

So finally he admits that Fine Gael will be no different in power than the FF/Green screw ups. With FF's history of graft, they'd probably be able to turn the economic around in about five years.

gandalf

Graft you say LOL!! With FF's history of mismanagement and feathering their own and their sponsors nests we will be in a even bigger hole if they continued on their disasterous management of the country.

What is worrying to see that their are those who are still following the soldiers of destiny disaster with blind loyalty after the complete mess they have made of things.

MidlandsM

ILA wrote: »

With FF's history of graft, they'd probably be able to turn the economic around in about five years.

what an erronious statement you posted.........:rolleyes:

R P McMurphy

The damage is already done and the private debts of a handful of powerful people have been transformed into public debts. Thanks to a cosy agreement the gambling debts of a few well connected people will bring the country to its knees and be responsible for many deaths (due to inadequate funding of heaLthcare system) and untold missed opportunities to developm the country. I dont think any party can handle what is coming down the road. Our independence has been sold out and the ECB will call the shots.

MidlandsM

R P McMurphy wrote: »

Our independence has been sold out and the ECB IMF will call the shots.

FYP;)

PeterIanStaker

ILA wrote: »

. With FF's history of graft, they'd probably be able to turn the economic around in about five years.

Are you serious?

Does ILA stand for I Love Ahern? :rolleyes::rolleyes:

ILA

To clarify, I'm opposed to FF, FG, Greens and Labour. Its just another note to show that you're dealing with twiddle dumb and twiddle dee, there's no real difference between the two and they're claims to magically repair the economy are hollow.

R P McMurphy

I can'tsee the IMF coming in to address the finances of a eurozone country. Much more lokely to be the ECB although not much difference in practical terms. We will not be allowed to default.

themadchef

ILA wrote: »

there's no real difference between the two and they're claims to magically repair the economy are hollow.

Aren't we the problem though?

People are looking for magic when there is none. There is pain. lots of "suck it up" budgets and no one has the balls to do it.

5 years we could be back off on our feet if the cut throat measures were made. The welfare budget is crazy. This country is borrowing to live. We need to live within our means and stop piling the problem onto the never never.

Yet no one wants to feel the pain, no one wants to take the cut.... there is no magic.

Kenny just wants into government. It wont change the system.

gandalf

ILA wrote: »

To clarify, I'm opposed to FF, FG, Greens and Labour. Its just another note to show that you're dealing with twiddle dumb and twiddle dee, there's no real difference between the two and they're claims to magically repair the economy are hollow.

Well if thats the case explain your opening statement?

With FF's history of graft, they'd probably be able to turn the economic around in about five years.

Looks to me you have different levels of opposition eh

danbohan

ILA wrote: »

To clarify, I'm opposed to FF, FG, Greens and Labour. Its just another note to show that you're dealing with twiddle dumb and twiddle dee, there's no real difference between the two and they're claims to magically repair the economy are hollow.

ssssshhhh , be quiet , a lot of people in ireland think that when we get clowen and co out everything be grand , wrong . have you had a look at what might make up the minsters in the alternative goverment as bad if not worse than the idiots already there . bottom line is we as a people and a country have elected poor quality people from all partys , can you think of any other country in the world that would be happy to have enda kenny as its leader , i cant . so unless we can completely change course and remove all the deadwood at next election including enda kenny i would not have much hope that future goverment will be any better than what we have .

R P McMurphy

themadchef wrote: »

Aren't we the problem though?

5 years we could be back off on our feet if the cut throat measures were made. The welfare budget is crazy. This country is borrowing to live. We need to live within our means and stop piling the problem onto the never never.

While we need to reduce the deficit, there does need to be a balance. Cutting too much out of the economy will certainly sink us. Our great difficulty in the future will be meeting interest payments.We do need to reduce our costs though.Certainly room for increased tax

onemorechance

Thanks to all those who voted 'Yes' to Nice and Lisbon, otherwise Europe might not have been so quick to support our bank guarantees which prevented our country going the same way as Argentina!

ILA

gandalf wrote: »

Well if thats the case explain your opening statement?

I simply meant with their graft: taking planing bribes, giving away the natural resources at bargain prices to multi-nationals (possibly for bribes as well), creating tribunals to keep the legal profession fed, robbing the last penny of tax payers when sh*t hits fan, etc.

These activities generate income and stimulate the economy, the lazy way.

R P McMurphy

onemorechance we would not be allowed to go that way even if we wanted to default. Who exactly do you think would lose out most if we decided not to repay all this money that was lent recklessly. In other words who lent recklessly to our reckless banks and now want to be repayed at any cost. The banks cannot repay and therefore the tax payer is being forced to over the next number of decades. Who do you think lent the most to Anglo

SeanW

ILA wrote: »

Link: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/kenny-ill-need-10-years-to-fix-economy-2335225.html

So finally he admits that Fine Gael will be no different in power than the FF/Green screw ups. With FF's history of graft, they'd probably be able to turn the economic around in about five years.

We're in a big hole - made by FF cronies. There is no way around it - I think ANY prospective government would need a long time to turn it around. I don't think its an admission of ineptitude by Enda K. to say that he will need time to put it right (if indeed he said that) it's just the likely truth.

MrDarcy

You don't need to be in government to create jobs. Kenny is talking out of his arse again, that's the problem with this country, everyone wants to manage and nobody is prepared to do the grafting.

heyjude

onemorechance wrote: »

Thanks to all those who voted 'Yes' to Nice and Lisbon, otherwise Europe might not have been so quick to support our bank guarantees which prevented our country going the same way as Argentina!

I think you may be confusing two different entities, Nice and Lisbon related to the powers and operation of the European Union of which their are 27 member countries. The European Central Bank(ECB) on the other hand, is the organisation that has been supporting our bank guarantees and they are responsible for conducting monetary policy for the euro area(comprising 16 countries including Ireland). AFAIK Nice and Lisbon did not relate to the powers of the ECB especially since 11 EU members are not part of the Euro area(ie. they haven't adopted the Euro as their currency).

onemorechance

Murphy, the help was certainly quicker and quieter than the Greek bailout.

91011

10 Year of FG - I could live with that.

10 years of "Up Mayo" Kenny :eek:
AAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

onemorechance

heyjude, I just think that the 'Yes' vote lead to less resisitance to the swift bailout of the Irish banks, which I doubt would have been so easy for the Government to negotiate if we had voted 'No' (the 2nd time!). Despite the eurozone not including the entire European Union, it does include the countries which form the basis of the European economy.

Liam Byrne

ILA wrote: »

To clarify, I'm opposed to FF, FG, Greens and Labour. Its just another note to show that you're dealing with twiddle dumb and twiddle dee, there's no real difference between the two and they're claims to magically repair the economy are hollow.

Hang on there now.

FF are saying "we've turned the corner" so many times that I'm dizzy.
FG are saying it'll take 10 years to fix the mess.

Which one is "claiming to magically repair the economy", based on the facts ?

Which one is - as far as I can see - not spouting the over-optimistic bull in order to get / retain power, but actually telling the truth ?

whippet

once again Kenny comes out and say he can do it !!!! But has no idea how !!!

it's pathetic really. I would consider myself somewhat of a swing voter, I did vote FF the last time as I couldn't stomach the potential opposition and with Gilmore doing nothing apart from trying to find jokes in everything he says and a broken FG party with Kenny as the leader .. my best course of action might be to bury my head in the sand and hope the next 10 years go by quickly.

The reality is FG / Labour have no real strategy to get us out of this mess and I don't believe they have the ability to either. For Kenny to be talking about 10 years with no mention of what he will do in that decade is embarrassing.

Liam Byrne

ILA wrote: »

I simply meant with their graft: taking planing bribes, giving away the natural resources at bargain prices to multi-nationals (possibly for bribes as well), creating tribunals to keep the legal profession fed, robbing the last penny of tax payers when sh*t hits fan, etc.

These activities generate income and stimulate the economy, the lazy way.

The original post didn't seem to imply anything remotely like that.

I have, however, found the source of the confusion.

Graft ( Informal ) :Work (esp in the phrase hard graft)

Graft : Unscrupulous use of one's position to derive profit or advantages; extortion.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/graft

Most people would understand the meaning to be the first of those two.

Hence the confusion.

deise go deo

ILA wrote: »

I simply meant with their graft: taking planing bribes, giving away the natural resources at bargain prices to multi-nationals (possibly for bribes as well), creating tribunals to keep the legal profession fed, robbing the last penny of tax payers when sh*t hits fan, etc.

These activities generate income and stimulate the economy, the lazy way.

No these activities create a culture of poor standards and cronyism that leads to disaster as we have seen. We are in a hole and your solution is keep digging:rolleyes:

eoinbn

whippet wrote: »

once again Kenny comes out and say he can do it !!!! But has no idea how !!!

it's pathetic really. I would consider myself somewhat of a swing voter, I did vote FF the last time as I couldn't stomach the potential opposition and with Gilmore doing nothing apart from trying to find jokes in everything he says and a broken FG party with Kenny as the leader .. my best course of action might be to bury my head in the sand and hope the next 10 years go by quickly.

The reality is FG / Labour have no real strategy to get us out of this mess and I don't believe they have the ability to either. For Kenny to be talking about 10 years with no mention of what he will do in that decade is embarrassing.

You do know that Gilmore wasn't the leader of Labour in the last election?
At least a 10 year time scale is somewhat realistic but I doubt Kenny has the ability to pull it off.

deise go deo

91011 wrote: »

10 Year of FG - I could live with that.

10 years of "Up Mayo" Kenny :eek:
AAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Ya, because ''Up Dublin'' Ahern did such a great job.:rolleyes:

maynooth_rules

Fair dues to him for being honest. He could have bluffed his way out, as i am 100% sure FF would do if roles were reversed, and say that he will have the economy turned around in under a year. However rather than bull**** the electorate, he has told it as it is. Of course this mathod of truth wont appeal to the FF apologists. FF have brought this economy to edge of a cliff, the IMF is on its way to our front door. Our problems have been caused by FF and it will take years for a non FF government to clean this mess

maynooth_rules

deise go deo wrote: »

Ya, because ''Up Dublin'' Ahern did such a great job.:rolleyes:

We dont need any of that ****e. Who gives two ****s what county our leader is from. This tribal ****e should be put to bed now. Our TDs are elected to the national assembly, I wish the whole county debate would end at that

Liam Byrne

maynooth_rules wrote: »

We dont need any of that ****e.

We don't. And if I were posting in objection to people spouting that I would have quoted both "objectionable" posts, more specifically 91011's, since deise was only reacting to that.

MrDarcy

whippet wrote: »

once again Kenny comes out and say he can do it !!!! But has no idea how !!!

it's pathetic really. I would consider myself somewhat of a swing voter, I did vote FF the last time as I couldn't stomach the potential opposition and with Gilmore doing nothing apart from trying to find jokes in everything he says and a broken FG party with Kenny as the leader .. my best course of action might be to bury my head in the sand and hope the next 10 years go by quickly.

The reality is FG / Labour have no real strategy to get us out of this mess and I don't believe they have the ability to either. For Kenny to be talking about 10 years with no mention of what he will do in that decade is embarrassing.

+1, this is the same assh*ole who was running around the country during the last two general elections, promising to compensate anyone with a vote, from rip-off taxi drivers to deluded Eircom shareholders who honestly thought that investing in a state/union run monopoly was a good idea.

Then we had the "I'm offering you a contract", the guy looked absolutely rediculous running up and down the country with a lump of cardboard that looked as if it had been robbed from the Lotto headquarters...

In the meantime, while those stupid stunts were being pulled to garner votes from the downright stupid, we failed to have a proper dabate on what kind of an Ireland we want to live in.

mayo_lad

MrDarcy wrote: »

+1, this is the same assh*ole who was running around the country during the last two general elections

what ever about your own personal feelings towards enda Kenny he was only elected leader of fine gael post the 2002 general election so he has only contested one general election as leader of the party . get the basics right before you go making statements.

Also in regard to the mess we're in no one saw it coming bar a few "educated economic experts"

and when the Sh1t did hit the fan the current government minded there own cronies rather than than the general public.

timespast

I've never voted FG.....I would of considered it if there had been an alternative to Enda Kenny.

MrDarcy

timespast wrote: »

I've never voted FG.....I would of considered it if there had been an alternative to Enda Kenny.

Exact same here, under no circumstances would I vote for FG while Kenny is leading the party the guy is an absolute idiot, he epitomises everything that is so wrong with this country, the lack of courage (why wasn't he calling people out onto the streets to protest against billions of Euro of our money being handed over to banking investors), the notions of entitlement, ("I have what it takes to run this country, I was born to lead", no you haven't you f*cking idiot go back to bed)...

It makes me physically sick this does, a nation crying out for leadership, heading clearly in one direction only and that is default and bankrupcy, and Enda Kenny, leader of the opposition doesn't think people should be led out to protest for change.

The day this country decided on another generation of rubbish and incapable leadership was the day that Enda Kenny remained leader of FG after the Bruton heave. When I heard Bruton talking for the first time in years I saw some courage and some vision, that actually seemed to mean something, not the politically stiffled cynical culchie act we are so used to seeing from Kenny.

scr123

I have to concede that in FG there is a small number with brains
I have to concede that swing voters see FG as an alternative to FF
I have to concede a small number of ABFF have brains

Would those same people concede that every time Kenny opens his mouth his head vanishes ! The clown is talking about fighting not just one GE but two, he expects to be in power for 10 years !! The closer we get to an election the closer I am to believing there is hope for FF

If I remotely supported FG I would be cringing with embarrassment right now

Gilmore says nothing but one of these days he will have to open up and it will be like Kenny's twin .

A lot of people detest Cowen but listening to him yesterday on RTE radio and comparing him to Kenny and Gilmore the best thing we could do if to give him the next years as Taoiseach !!

I understand why the ABFF on this board despise people like me but for goodness sake take the blinkers off and have a serious look at the alternative to FF !

gaius c

ILA wrote: »

Link: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/kenny-ill-need-10-years-to-fix-economy-2335225.html

So finally he admits that Fine Gael will be no different in power than the FF/Green screw ups. With FF's history of graft, they'd probably be able to turn the economic around in about five years.

0.001 on www.ratemytroll.ie

Laminations

scr123 wrote: »

The clown is talking about fighting not just one GE but two, he expects to be in power for 10 years !

Is he? Sounds to me he is just being realistic rather then lying about turning a corner. Sounds to me he is not promising the sun moon and stars for which all parties have been criticised for doing so in the past. Sounds to me he is not being populist and claiming falsely that FG will be some kind of quick fix panacea (something no ABFF believes but at the same time is reminded of by FFers). He is saying it'll take a long time to fix FFs mess so don't be getting Obama style expectations. FF created the mess, they've exacerbated the mess, they've lied about the mess, they've covered up the mess, they've refused to be held accountable for the mess. Ff and their die hard fan base will go to their graves knowing that they almost destroyed Ireland, even if they'll never admit it. A bit of honesty from Kenny on our predicament is refreshing

91011

Liam Byrne wrote: »

We don't. And if I were posting in objection to people spouting that I would have quoted both "objectionable" posts, more specifically 91011's, since deise was only reacting to that.

I only tried to add humor to what I think.

I don't rate Kenny, he's not a leader, does not have convistion and not someone I think can rally the country. If the election is next year and he's in for 10 years, he'll be past retirement age.

Bring on the younger blood from whatever party and lets get the country moving in the right direction with gusto.

MrDarcy

Laminations wrote: »

Is he? Sounds to me he is just being realistic rather then lying about turning a corner. Sounds to me he is not promising the sun moon and stars for which all parties have been criticised for doing so in the past. Sounds to me he is not being populist and claiming falsely that FG will be some kind of quick fix panacea (something no ABFF believes but at the same time is reminded of by FFers). He is saying it'll take a long time to fix FFs mess so don't be getting Obama style expectations. FF created the mess, they've exacerbated the mess, they've lied about the mess, they've covered up the mess, they've refused to be held accountable for the mess. Ff and their die hard fan base will go to their graves knowing that they almost destroyed Ireland, even if they'll never admit it. A bit of honesty from Kenny on our predicament is refreshing

Sounds to me like he doesn't have what we need which is a credible jobs strategy. This country is very easily fixed with the right policies and right people implementing those policies. Enda Kenny hasn't the first notion how to create jobs.

bryaner

I'm wondering how much longer till we hit the streets (instead of muttering over a pint).

The December budget will be the worst yet..

Liam Byrne

scr123 wrote: »

Would those same people concede that every time Kenny opens his mouth his head vanishes ! The clown is talking about fighting not just one GE but two, he expects to be in power for 10 years !!

I didn't see anything that suggests that he expects to be in power for 10 years. He just spoke realistically about how long it will take to clean up the mess that FF have created.

scr123 wrote: »

If I remotely supported FG I would be cringing with embarrassment right now

Based on the fact that you support FF and aren't cringing with embarrassment, I doubt it.

scr123 wrote: »

A lot of people detest Cowen but listening to him yesterday on RTE radio and comparing him to Kenny and Gilmore the best thing we could do if to give him the next years as Taoiseach !!

The best thing we could do is make a complete alternative to all three Taoiseach; unfortunately it looks like we might have to make do with just evicting the Taoiseach that was Minister for Finance while all of the mistakes were being made, and was Taoiseach while the effects of those mistakes were copperfastened through bailouts and NAMA.

scr123 wrote: »

I understand why the ABFF on this board despise people like me but for goodness sake take the blinkers off and have a serious look at the alternative to FF !

We have. So take your own blinkers off. The alternative to FF is poor, but it's infinitely better than what we have.

deise go deo

maynooth_rules wrote: »

We dont need any of that ****e. Who gives two ****s what county our leader is from. This tribal ****e should be put to bed now. Our TDs are elected to the national assembly, I wish the whole county debate would end at that

That was my point. Enda was criticised for being from Mayo. Where someone is from is no basis to judge their abilitys. Even haveing to say this is silly because it is such an obvious point.

I wasent claiming that the country was better than Dublin.;)

heyjude

onemorechance wrote: »

heyjude, I just think that the 'Yes' vote lead to less resisitance to the swift bailout of the Irish banks, which I doubt would have been so easy for the Government to negotiate if we had voted 'No' (the 2nd time!). Despite the eurozone not including the entire European Union, it does include the countries which form the basis of the European economy.

The ECB is primarily concerned with protecting the Euro, so whether we had voted Yes or No, I think the bailout of the Irish banks would have happened in much the same manner, as preventing a default by the Irish banks and even worse, a default by the Irish government, would clearly have been seen as by far the lesser of two evils. Politically speaking within the EU itself, I'm sure the fact that Ireland finally supported Lisbon and Nice, may have been worth some brownie points, but the bailout would have happened irrespective of our support for EU reform, as the ECB couldn't risk a financial crisis in Ireland triggering similar problems in Spain, Portugal and Italy, especially after the turmoil in Greece.

heyjude

ILA wrote: »

Link: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/kenny-ill-need-10-years-to-fix-economy-2335225.html

So finally he admits that Fine Gael will be no different in power than the FF/Green screw ups. With FF's history of graft, they'd probably be able to turn the economic around in about five years.

You can't win, the country is in the greatest mess its probably ever been in, Enda Kenny say it will take ten years to fix the economy and all he gets is abuse. People are always going on about wanting honesty in politics and when a politician gives a straight answer, all he gets is abuse. Would you have preferred if Kenny had said that Fine Gael could fix the economy in six months or a year ? That would have been patently absurd, but maybe thats' what some people want to hear.

There is an old cliche "Be careful what you wish for" and when people demand honesty from their politicians, they may not like what they get. Even under the current government plans(if they stick to it), it will take another 3-4 years to get the budget deficit sorted and there are many problems apart from the budget deficit that need to be dealt with in order to fix the economy, so who knows how long it will take, but if you're talking about restoring the economy to the state it was in before the downturn, then Kenny could be closer to the truth than many want to believe.

I do applaud your choice of words and honesty when you admitted "With FF's history of graft", assuming that you are aware that graft is a term for a type of political corruption. I fail to see though, how persisting with a party that as you admit has a history of corruption, will accelerate the recovery of the economy, though I have no doubt that it would accelerate the recovery for FFs' golden circle, who would no doubt benefit immensely from their continued retention of power.

MrDarcy

Enda Kenny has no business saying it will take ten years to fix this place. By his very own admission he doesn't know how bad the problem actually is, none of us do. The problem in terms of the economy is completely open ended because we have started to fix the problems that are there, so how on earth could he really honestly whether it will take 5, 10 or 100 years to fix???

People are genuinely less interested in his casual and meaningless soundbytes and more interested in seeing some hard work, leadership and some basic fuking pragmatism now on the economy...

jmayo

mayo_lad wrote: »

what ever about your own personal feelings towards enda Kenny he was only elected leader of fine gael post the 2002 general election so he has only contested one general election as leader of the party . get the basics right before you go making statements.

True.

mayo_lad wrote: »

Also in regard to the mess we're in no one saw it coming bar a few "educated economic experts"

Very Untrue.
A lot of ordinary people like a few of us around here saw the writing ont he wall and of course we were labelled as begrudgers, whiners and McWilliams fan club.
A lot of the normal Irish did not want to hear the truth since they were doing very well and of course their newly acquired property had just made them millionaires.


With that it would have political suicide to go to the electorate and tell them they were assholes for believeing the bertie bubble.

mayo_lad wrote: »

and when the Sh1t did hit the fan the current government minded there own cronies rather than than the general public.

Very very true.

MrDarcy wrote: »

Exact same here, under no circumstances would I vote for FG while Kenny is leading the party the guy is an absolute idiot, he epitomises everything that is so wrong with this country, the lack of courage (why wasn't he calling people out onto the streets to protest against billions of Euro of our money being handed over to banking investors), the notions of entitlement, ("I have what it takes to run this country, I was born to lead", no you haven't you f*cking idiot go back to bed)...

It makes me physically sick this does, a nation crying out for leadership, heading clearly in one direction only and that is default and bankrupcy, and Enda Kenny, leader of the opposition doesn't think people should be led out to protest for change.

The day this country decided on another generation of rubbish and incapable leadership was the day that Enda Kenny remained leader of FG after the Bruton heave. When I heard Bruton talking for the first time in years I saw some courage and some vision, that actually seemed to mean something, not the politically stiffled cynical culchie act we are so used to seeing from Kenny.

Ah yes the Obama syndrome where we crave a leader to lead us to the promised land.
We as a people ain't going to get one and even worse we don't really deserve one after the sh**e a sizable chunk of the people in this coutnry have both condoned and put up with.
Remember how we reward theives, fraudsters, liars, slanderers and tax cheats with poll topping results.

FFS if Kenny had asked people onto the streets do you think it would have happened ?
Would it f***, because we in this country are just always looking after our own sectional interests and not the good of the country.
Public sector would not want to go out with private sector and vice versa, far left would not want to go out with what they see as right wing blueshirts and vice versa.

You laud Bruton as some great f***ing messiah and Kenny as a buffoon, yet Kenny cut him to bits when in all likelihood he should have been dispatched.
Courage and vision ?
Yeah look at ones with courage and vision in the Bruton camp.
Creighton, deasey, hayes, dear God give us a break.

I think Kenny is optimistic in saying it would take 10 years.
You and others are shouting about creating jobs and how the government will do it.
You know we don't live in a communist state where the government create you a job, they only create or stifle the envirnoment that makes jobs creation attractive.

Kenny is the best of an inept inbred bunch and until O'Roosevelt or O'Churchill comes riding over the horizon he will continue to be it.

Liam Byrne

mayo_lad wrote: »

Also in regard to the mess we're in no one saw it coming bar a few "educated economic experts"

100% false.

mayo_lad wrote: »

get the basics right before you go making statements.

Kettle, pot!

maynooth_rules

deise go deo wrote: »

That was my point. Enda was criticised for being from Mayo. Where someone is from is no basis to judge their abilitys. Even haveing to say this is silly because it is such an obvious point.

I wasent claiming that the country was better than Dublin.;)

Sorry, re-reading my post, what with all the curses and the like, it looks like I was having a go at you. That was not my intention at all:D

SeanW

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Based on the fact that you support FF and aren't cringing with embarrassment, I doubt it.

QFT!

bijapos

What I found most interesting was the reaction here to him saying that they will introduce water charges. If Gormley had said that, the FG brigade on this forum would be hacking away big time on their keyboards denouncing him and the Greens as lunatics. But when Kenny (and Varadker on Morning Ireland this morning) say they will introduce metered water there seems to be a glaring silence. :rolleyes:

And he wouldn't give examples of the painful measures that would have to be imposed -- apart from the introduction of water charges.
In an interview with the Irish Independent, Mr Kenny admitted there was "no pain-free way" to restore the public finances.
He ruled out tax hikes, yet could not state where his party would find the money to balance the books.
And he admitted his party did not have a policy on property tax.

Strange they still have no policy on property taxes, a big issue like that should have had some sort of policy by now. As to the fact that he cannot state where they will find the money I find that a bit odd.

If he wants 10 years it will be measured on his performance over the first 5. I can only hope his TD's perform better than his councillors in this regard.

jmayo

bijapos wrote: »

What I found most interesting was the reaction here to him saying that they will introduce water charges. If Gormley had said that, the FG brigade on this forum would be hacking away big time on their keyboards denouncing him and the Greens as lunatics. But when Kenny (and Varadker on Morning Ireland this morning) say they will introduce metered water there seems to be a glaring silence. :rolleyes:



Strange they still have no policy on property taxes, a big issue like that should have had some sort of policy by now. As to the fact that he cannot state where they will find the money I find that a bit odd.

If he wants 10 years it will be measured on his performance over the first 5. I can only hope his TD's perform better than his councillors in this regard.

FG are playing a game and IMHO they are trying to be populist in order to counter Labour.
Some of us might want to hear them come out and truthfully state they will cut social welfare, cut public sector jobs and salaries, bring in taxes, but the vast majority of people (voters) in this country don't want to hear that.
Some of us want to know the truth but a lot of people don't want to be told we are f***ed and we are goign to be paying big time.

Listening to FG's line AFAIK they have said "they will protect the sick, the old, etc" when asked about social welfare.
Reading between the lines they have not come out and said dole is protected.
They have said they will look at metered water charges and it would be a lot more palatabole than just flat water charges.
They have hammered home about cutting quangoes and public sector reform.
Thye say they will close tax loopholes for rich rather than up tax.

Their fear is that they will alienate a huge chunk of voters if they do say exactly where they will cut.
Watch Labour make hay then.