Sinn Féin tells EU Commissioner Ollie Rehn 2014 deadline unachievable

SPEAKING this morning after meeting with EU Commissioner Ollie Rehn, Sinn Féin Dáil Leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said he had told the Commissioner that Sinn Féin will not be part of a consensus to cut €6billion from the economy next year.

Deputy Ó Caoláin told Commissioner Rehn that the 2014 target for cutting the Budget deficit to 3% of GDP is completely unrealistic and that he should go back to Europe with that message.

Deputy Ó Caoláin said:

I and my colleagues, Deputy Arthur Morgan and Mary Lou McDonald, this morning informed European Commissioner Ollie Rehn that Sinn Féin will not be part of any consensus that seeks to cut €6 billion from the economy next year hitting low-earners and vital public services hardest.

Sinn Féin has put forward a fairer, better way which seeks to stimulate the economy in order to create jobs and reduce the deficit in a more natural manner. We advocate the creation of a Consensus for Recovery.

We informed Commissioner Rehn that the 2014 target for reducing the Budget deficit to 3% of GDP is completely unrealistic and unachievable.

Furthermore, we told him that it is our belief that the Government parties, along with Fine Gael and Labour, know that 2014 is unachievable and are simply trying to create a bluff in order to instil confidence in the international bond markets.

This approach hasn’t worked as each time the Government announces more cutbacks the interest rates on Ireland’s borrowing goes up.

Commissioner Rehn should go back to Europe with the message that Ireland is serious about cutting its deficit but that it cannot and will not be done by 2014. The parties know it can’t be done and there is certainly no consensus among the people of this state for savage cuts to service a bluff that is destined to failure.