DONEGAL TD Pearse Doherty has clashed with Labour Minister Pat Rabbitte over cuts in last week’s budget.
The Sinn Fein Finance spokesman told the Communications Minister on the RTE’s ‘The Week in Politics’ programme that he had met a mother of a disabled child in Donegal this weekend who had faced a 20% cut in respite care allowances.
“Your cuts have deprived that mother of the opportunity of buying in services to help her with her children,” Doherty told Rabbitte.
The cuts to respite care grants to families is causing uproar among Labour backbenchers.
Mr Rabbitte told the programme that the country will not pay the €3.1bn promissory note for former Anglo Irish Bank when it is due in March.
He said the country can not pay this “IOU” entered into by the last Government after the collapse of Anglo Irish Bank.
He said the European Central Bank was a difficult institution to “bring around” to stamping the deal Ireland needs on the promissory note.
But Minister Rabbitte said he believes it will happen before the payment is due next March.
Minister Rabbitte said: “But I believe before the note falls due for payment in March that we will get a deal.”
Mr Rabbitte was then asked if there was no deal would that then mean Ireland would require a second bailout.
“Personally I don’t think it is as stark as that because we didn’t pay the promissory note this year and as far as I am concerned we are not going to pay it next year. It’s as simple as that.”
Pearse Doherty criticised the comments saying the Government had still failed to stand up to European leaders.
But Rabbitte retorted: “Pearse, that’s economics from the tooth fairy.”
While Labour backbenchers are being criticised in their constituencies, Fine Gael backbenchers are being criticised by lower and middle class workers over the failure to reduce social welfare payments and increase taxes for those who do work.
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