Chambers dismisses Donohoe’s ‘unfair and misleading’ criticism of Fianna Fáil manifesto – The Irish Times

Outgoing Fianna Fáil Chancellor of the Exchequer Jac Chambers accused his former Fine Gael government partner Paschal Donohoe of insincerity in his criticism of Fianna Fáil election manifesto.

Mr Donohoe, who as Public Expenditure Minister helped prepare the last budget with Mr Chambers, said Fianna Fáil’s calculations left much to be desired and raised a number of questions about costs.

Speaking on Virgin Media’s Tonight Show, Mr Chambers said he “emphatically rejected” the claims and that the figures had been calculated in consultation with the finance and public expenditure departments.

“Paschal Donohoe’s statement is dishonest and misleading and we can set out the details in full as we have done in our manifesto,” he said.

On the same programme, Mr Chambers also raised eyebrows when he said “people are fed up with legacies like the children’s hospital” and became involved in a heated exchange with outgoing Fine Gael Foreign Secretary Hildegarde Naughton.

Ms Naughton said she was “getting flashbacks” of when Fine Gael had to “clean up the mess” left by Fianna Fáil in 2011, after the financial crash.

The on-air hostilities prompted Labor chief Ged Nash to say that people watching were “seeing this for what it is – it’s hand-wringing between two parties in government. They have been mocking each other all week and that just illustrates that there are actually very few policy differences between them.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Donohoe accused Fianna Fáil of inflating the figures in its manifesto by as much as €5.2 billion.

“A close examination of the Fianna Fáil manifesto raises a number of questions that simply cannot be ignored,” he said in comments that appeared to escalate election tensions between the two dominant partners in government.

He wondered what new Fianna Fáil policies would provide the necessary additional revenue.

“If there is an explanation for where and how this extra 5.2 billion euros will be achieved, we need to hear it. I call on Fianna Fáil to reveal the details of these assumptions.”

In response, Fianna Fáil released its own statement saying that both Fine Gael and Sinn Féin had carried out “wild attacks” that misrepresented Fianna Fáil’s platform, and stressed that the figures stood up to scrutiny, with the calculations in detail were explained.

“If Fine Gael wants to argue against fundamental economics and claim that the extra spending and growth will not lead to extra revenue, then we look forward to explaining why all the budgets they have introduced have taken a similar approach,” the party said .

The estimates the tax authorities relied on, the statement continued, were “in line with the size of expected revenues that Paschal Donohoe himself had set as Minister of Finance.”

“In addition, please note that the very high reserve of 20 billion euros for a full year, which we have provided in budget reserves, regardless of the surpluses and increasing capital reserves, has been included. The fact is that our plans are balanced, ambitious and responsible.”

Fianna Fáil said it was the only major party to put forward detailed, budgeted and funded plans, assessed by the Treasury and other relevant departments.