Taoiseach wishes nation a happy and peaceful Christmas

The Taoiseach is wishing everyone in the country a happy and peaceful Christmas.


Brian Cowen says there is no better way to relax and recharge batteries than in the company of loved ones.

He has also praised members of the emergency services.


Source: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/ireland/taoiseach-wishes-nation-a-happy-and-peaceful-christmas-14120489.html

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By Fionnan Sheahan Political Editor


Wednesday December 24 2008

Taoiseach Brian Cowen has warned there will be "pain and casualties" as the Government tries to manage the public finances and the economy out of crisis.

In an interview with the Irish Independent, Mr Cowen also robustly defended his own handling of the economy saying "no-one predicted" what is now happening.

Mr Cowen does not accept that his Government is to blame for factors now seen to be exacerbating the downturn, such as difficulties with public sector reform or the management of the property boom.

He accepts people's standards of living will fall and unemployment will rise next year.

Mr Cowen says what's important now is to develop a strategy that gets us through the recession.

Opportunities

"Can you do that in a way where there won't be any pain, where there won't be any casualties? No. That's not possible. In a recession, there are people affected, there are businesses. Out of that recession will come new opportunities and new businesses and that's part of what we are talking about.

"I think it is incumbent on me as leader of the country to say to people, particularly a young generation who have seen the country on the rise all the time in their adult lives, to say to them: 'Okay, this has come to us, we have met challenges like this before and here is where we can be if we take the right decisions now and those decisions will involve difficulties for people.' But at least there is a sense that, yeah, we are going somewhere," he said.

Mr Cowen said everybody needs to accept sacrifices will have to be made.

"Of course we should be prepared, in our own interest, and in our kids' interests, to take whatever hits are necessary now. I think that's a saleable political message to the Irish people. It's also my honest assessment of how we best get through this problem, and I'm sticking by the method by which we do it, even though it's invited criticism by others to say 'Oh you're not prepared to take decisions'.

"I certainly am, but I want them to be informed decisions and I want them to be decisions that have the best possible buy-in from others," he said.

Defending his Government's performance, amid accusations it hasn't made necessary decisions, Mr Cowen said analysing what happened over previous years is an academic exercise.

"That's history now and people can go over the whyfores as much as they like and that's what they'll find: no-one predicted this. But it doesn't matter. We are where we are in my opinion. I've been given this job since June of this year and I'm getting on with this job and it presents totally new challenges and we have to bring the people with us," he said.

Mr Cowen warned that he is only willing to borrow heavily to pay for infrastructure.

"We are in this part of the cycle where we have to borrow. Fine, for capital purposes, fine, I don't have a problem, but I do have a problem on day-to-day expenditure because it's not sustainable.

"We have to build up the capacity of the country so that it can compete when things pick up and that is the difficult choice. And that is why I can understand the hesitancy that people have as to why we are going down this road suddenly or why are we in this position," he added.

- Fionnan Sheahan Political Editor


Source: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/taoiseach-warns-of-casualties-in-fightback-1584765.html