Cowen pressed on further jump in unemployment figures

Posted on July 01, 2009

"I was interested to hear the Taoiseach say that unemployment was rising but rising more slowly. That is the equivalent of saying we are sinking but sinking more slowly. We are sinking nevertheless.

"A total of 413,000 people out of work is a record, and the number has risen by about 200,000 since this time last year," the Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore TD said this morning during Leaders' Questions in the Dáil.

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Gilmore questions Taoiseach on social welfare cuts

Posted on June 30, 2009

The Taoiseach fudges questions on whether social welfare payments will be cut

The Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore TD once again raised serious delays for people accessing the services of Community Welfare Officers during Leaders' Questions in the Dáil this afternoon. He cited an example where claimants will have to wait until after July 13th for their claims to be dealt with.

He asked: "This is a service operating for people with no money. Does anyone in the Government understand what its like to have no money?

"One cannot use a credit card because one does not have one; one cannot go to the ATM because one does not have a bank account, or there is nothing in it. The only place one can go if one has no money is to a community welfare officer."

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Government buckles and concedes to Labour's demand for debate on IMF report

Posted on June 25, 2009

Today's Order of Business in the Dáil was dominated by Labour's demand for a debate on yesterday's damning IMF report. Led by Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore TD, our deputies demanded the House discuss the report and after an hour long debate the Government eventually buckled and conceded the need for time being given to the report.

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Gilmore challenges Government decision to extend bank guarantee scheme indefinitely

Posted on June 23, 2009

Leaders' Questions this afternoon centered again on the Bank Guarantee Scheme when the Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore TD challenged the Government's decision to extend the bank guarantee indefinitely.

Eamon said: "Buried away in part of schedule 2 of the bill (the Financial Measures Misc Provisions Bill which is being discussed in the Dáil this evening) is an amendment to the legislation which brought in the bank guarantee scheme. That amendment lifts the two year time limit on the scheme and gives power to the Minister for Finance to extend the guarantee by Ministerial Order for any period of time."

He went on to describe the guarantee scheme as a 'disaster to the taxpayer'.

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Anglo Irish Bank 'a financial cess-pit' says Gilmore

Posted on June 10, 2009

Once again Anglo Irish Banks was the main topic in this morning's Leaders' Questions. Leader of the Labour Party Eamon Gilmore TD questioned the Taoiseach about the loans made to senior management in the bank as well as the billions being given to the bank by the State.

Calling the bank a financial cess-pit Eamon said: "We have already heard about the extent to which the bank gave loans to its own directors, gave loans to other people to buy shares in the same bank, arranged back to back loans with another financial institution to make its financial position look healthy when it was anything but.

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Nationalise the banks

Posted on May 12, 2009

Once again the issue of the banks was raised by the Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore during Leaders' Questions this afternoon when he called on the Government to nationalise the banks.

Eamon said: "How the Government deals with the banks is going to determine the future of the Irish economy and the future of this country. It is quite clear the attempts to date have not succeeded.

"There is an alternative, which is contained in the motion the Labour Party has proposed for debate in Private Members' business tonight. It is that the banks be temporarily nationalised, cleaned up and put back in order.

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How many more people will lose their jobs before the Taoiseach loses his?

Posted on April 29, 2009

The damning ESRI report that was released today estimates that 102,800 jobs will be lost next year, and the unemployment rate will average 16.8 per cent. The Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore raised the report during Leaders' Questions today saying 'how many more people will lose their jobs before the Taoiseach loses his?

Deputy Gilmore said: "The Taoiseach simply does not accept this reality. He seems to be in absolute denial that outside the walls and gates of this parliamentary area, people are losing their jobs and businesses are going to the wall.

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Focus on country's problems not internal FF bickering - Gilmore tells Cowen

Posted on April 28, 2009

Following the weekend's media coverage of internal Fianna Fail fighting, the Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore TD urged the Taoiseach to focus on the problems of the country and not on the internal bickering of his party.

Speaking during Leaders' Questions Eamon told the Taoiseach: "The concern they are to the rest of us and to the wider public is that the Taoiseach and his leadership team are spending their time now and for the next number of months looking over their shoulders and looking behind them, looking for little conspiracies and for people stabbing them in the back, for more Ministers and more backbenchers making this type of comment.

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An Bord Bail Out

Posted on April 22, 2009

Calling the National Assets Management Agency (NAMA) 'An Bord Bail Out' the Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore today pressed the Taoiseach during Leaders' Questions to explain what consideration has the Government given to nationalising the banks.

He said: "The Tasoieach I am sure will have studied the assessment made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which concludes that Ireland will pay a higher price to stabilise our banks than any other country and the cost to the Irish taxpayer may be €24b - the biggest Government bail out of banks of any developed country."

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Rabbitte eats his Greens

Posted on April 08, 2009

There hasn't been much light relief in the Dail this week, particularly with the harshest budget on record, but Labour Deputy Pat Rabbitte brought smiles to all sides of the House with a ten minute speech that used his trademark wit to pose very serious questions about the record of the Green Party in government.

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