European Commission forecasts give the lie to opposition claims on economy – Howlin

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin TD, has described this morning’s European Commission economic forecasts as a “ringing endorsement of the Irish economy and this Government’s handling of the crisis it inherited from Micheál Martin and Fianna Fáil”.

“If the Irish people need a further reason not to contemplate handing control of our economy into the hands of those who wrecked it, then this is it. This report presents a remarkable turnaround in our fortunes over the last five years.

“The people that Fianna Fáil and Micheál Martin had to call in to bail out our country have presented this morning a ringing endorsement of Labour’s management of the economy.

“Simply put, we are due to be the fastest growing economy in Europe again this year. Importantly, our debt ratio is falling and employment is growing. All our fundamentals are heading in the right direction.

“Having been elected to save the economy, it is clear that that has been achieved by this Government and I am proud of the role Labour played in turning things around.

“Interestingly, the Commission forecasts for economic growth for both this year and last year exceed these of the Department of Finance. It may well prove to be the case that some of the forecasts around the fiscal space issue prove to be conservative. Nonetheless Labour will be sticking with the official projections when we publish our fiscal plan.”