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THE COUNTRY HAS now gone 57 days without a government and while Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are still talking to one another, there are still a number of issues they need to iron out before a deal can be reached on a minority-led government.
Last night, as formal negotiations broke for the weekend, issues like housing and water charges were causing problems.
In particular, the parties are having trouble compromising on water charge policy, with Fianna Fáil TD Thomas Byrne telling RTÉ’s Seán O’Rourke yesterday that an agreement was doubtful unless Fine Gael was willing to suspect charges for five years.
A party source said the two leaders had “a good discussion” on the phone earlier today and would remain in contact over the weekend. However the parties’ negotiating teams will not resume formal talks until Monday morning.
One Fine Gael TD said it appears as if “the tail wants to wag the dog”. They suggested Fianna Fáil begin speaking to parties who are of the same mind on water, adding that Enda Kenny’s party is “duty bound” to hold their ground.
Both sides are still said to be hopeful that a resolution can be reached next week, but if neither are willing to budge on the water issue, the country could still be without a government next weekend.
- With reporting by Christina Finn.
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Didn’t they only say just last week that we were doing fantastically well?
Cut the ESRI altogether….that should save a good few bob !!!!!!!!
Yeah, if we get rid of all the people saying we need to close the gap between governent spending and revenue then maybe it’ll all just go away.
The ESRI do not exactly have a credible record as economic advisors.
Yes if we cut the ERSI from the public purse maybe they might start getting it right in the world of sink or swim.
Yes daniel they did but that was last week :-)
its only an extra 400 million say it fast doesn’t sound much …
Down with that sorta thing
Careful now
How can u cut more and more and expect growth ,, it just doesnt make sense
What do you want us to do, follow the examples of Germany and Holland, who are still performing reasonably well and have low debt.
FG/FF will never do that, and their excellent track record of only bankrupting the state 4 times in 90 years is proof of that.
Absolutely nothing is being done at the moment for the domestic economy, indeed August has been the worst month to date for company insolvencies. The SME’s, the domestic economy are dying, but then again they are only with the rest of the little people and are well below the concern of FG/FF. Always have been, always will be.
What kind of salaries are ESRI academics on? Wasn’t it one of the cheerleaders of a ‘soft landing’? More calls for a tow from the Titanic.
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