Government buckles and concedes to Labour's demand for debate on IMF report

Posted on June 25, 2009 at 04:21 PM

Today's Order of Business in the Dáil was dominated by Labour's demand for a debate on yesterday's damning IMF report. Led by Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore TD, our deputies demanded the House discuss the report and after an hour long debate the Government eventually buckled and conceded the need for time being given to the report.

Addressing the House Eamon said: "I cannot imagine a Minister for Finance in any other country who, having received such a damning report on the economic and financial performance of a Government of which he has been part for the past 12 years, would say he welcomed it that it had nothing to do with him, that he really was not part of the Government at all, that he was some kind of distant supporter of the Government.

"The take adopted by the IMF and the OECD on the state of our economy is quite different from the stated take of the Government. We must assess that. Second, their assessment of what the Government is doing in respect of the banking system is at variance with what the Government proposes to do, which is still vague.

"We still do not know when this legislation will be published and considered by the House. Meanwhile, events continue apace. Before we go into recess for the summer we need to have a proper and serious debate about the state of the economy based on these two reports."

You can read the full exchange on the Oireachtas website and watch Labour's contribution in the accompanying video.

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