Party leaders seek to stake out economic policy positions in TV debate

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael sought to focus attention on the economy yesterday as the election campaign enters its final days. Both Micheál Martin and Simon Harris used last night’s televised leaders’ debate to warn of the dangers to Ireland’s economic future.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald played down the risks, however, saying: “I don’t think painting up a doomsday scenario is smart.”
Mr Harris warned that the incoming Trump administration in the United States was preparing to put tariffs on imports and said that “the risk of a trade shock is real”.
Pressed by the RTÉ debate moderators what spending plans would not go ahead if there was an economic shock, Ms McDonald declined to specify any particular measures but insisted: “We are not going to impose austerity on people.”
She defended her party’s plans to raise taxes on better off people, saying she would “not make any apology for revenue raising measures” that would target the banks and wealthier people.
She said it was “a progressive equitable way to tax”.
In the event of an economic shock, Mr Harris said it would affect the “phasing in of some new measures” and said his party would “borrow for housing”.
Mr Martin said Fianna Fáil would “rely on the buffer” in the Government’s savings funds. He said that if there was a sudden downturn, Fianna Fáil in government would “protect our revenue base and continue to invest in public service”, adding that planned tax cuts would not go ahead in that case.
With the campaign in its final days, the focus on economic issues by the Government parties is clear, while Sinn Féin seeks to continue to convey its message of change.
Yesterday the Fine Gael Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe said that “economically, this election matters like no other in my lifetime”.
But Fine Gael was forced on to the back foot again after reports emerged regarding its contact with RTÉ over a controversial campaign trail video of Simon Harris’s encounter with care worker Charlotte Fallon in Kanturk.
Mr Harris told the debate last night that “I have no knowledge of that” when asked if anyone from Fine Gael had asked RTÉ to take down the clip.
Seamus Dooley, Irish secretary of the National Union of Journalists, said parties should “know better than to try and influence a story or to deflect from an incident”, saying that it seemed a line had been crossed.
The opposition sought to drive home any advantage that could be gleaned from the episode. Ms McDonald described the episode as “chilling”, and her finance spokesman Pearse Doherty called on Fine Gael to clarify what was said and whether it was “leaning” on RTÉ.
Meanwhile, senior party figures believe Fine Gael may be forced to soften its stance on a four-party coalition government due to its current poll slide.
As recently as last week, the party’s leader Mr Harris had rejected the idea that a left-wing alliance composed of more than one party could act as a potential coalition partner with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil after the election.
However, senior Fine Gael sources now privately believe that if the results of the election on Friday mirror a recent and dramatic slide in opinion polls, a multiparty coalition of more than three parties may come into consideration.
Such an arrangement would also be predicated on Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael obtaining a similar level of seats, one senior source said.