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ARRIVING FOR THE first Cabinet meeting after the summer holidays, Taoiseach Enda Kenny told reporters that “silly season is over” and the Government is ready to get down to “real work”.
“The Government has a really packed agenda of very difficult decision and choices to make and challenging times up ahead,” said Kenny.
Both Kenny and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said the Cabinet has a number of important issues to prepare for, including the roll out its “really strong” reform programme, the European Presidency, the most challenging Budget of the Government’s time in office thus far and the Children’s Referendum.
“Let me repeat again, the silly season is now over and Government gets down to real work,” added Kenny. “Making decisions in respect of sorting out our country’s finances, making decisions that will make it more competitive for us to attract inward investment and the creation of jobs and making sure that we are in a position to deliver services for those that need them.”
Gilmore said that today’s meeting would set out a framework for the next few months.
Asked about Fianna Fáil’s intention to table a motion of confidence in the Minister for Health, Gilmore said he had “no doubt” that James Reilly would ensure the needs of Irish people are met.
He added that Fianna Fáil has a “hard neck to tell anybody about health.”
“They left this country in a horrific mess. In particular their handling of the health service was appalling. What Fianna Fáil has to say about the health service is just a pure act of hypocrisy.”
Health spokesperson for Fianna Fáil Billy Kelleher has continued the war of words with the coalition, releasing a statement attacking the Tánaiste for resorting to “his favourite party trick of kicking Fianna Fáil instead of addressing the real concerns”.
“The Tánaiste’s comments today will provide absolutely no comfort to the thousands of high dependency patients who will have their homecare supports cut as a result of this Government’s decisions,” he said.
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The “silly season” won’t be over until the political system sees real reform.
Insert anti-govt jibe here
The ‘silly season’ is over??? Has Edna resigned?!
‘the silly season is over’ as the ‘government gets down to real work’ – so he admits they’ve made a shams of it so far!
Is it just me or does kennyallways sound smug and condescending
No not just you.
Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber ….
But in reality, they are creaming it off our hard earned taxes, so maybe not so dumb after all …. Their Voters are dumb.
Sorry the real work starts now!!!! That should have started the on your first day in office!!!
Their nothing more then a bunch of Me Feiner layabouts . The silly season is all year round with this lot..
The Muppets are back,..led by Stadler and Waldorf…why bother?
Ah, the old chestnut of blaming FF. Sorry Enda, that excuse is long past being acceptable. You’ve been in power long enough now to have made some “real difference” from your “real work”.
Hear hear, they cannot play the blame card any longer.
Was just about to post the same comment Ailis…..those shower wouldn’t know real work if it slapped them in their rich faces!!!!
Never did a real days work in their lives
i really think that Enda and co are quite happy to piss on joe public with tax increases and cut galore and think that the answer to any critics is simply to say “we inherited all these problems from previous gov”…. ah…sorry all the problems are yours now! you were elected cause you promised real reforms and not giving bondholders another red cent ….ALL LIES!!!! you ENDA…EAMON and the rest are no better than the last crowd
Roll on the day we get to dump them as well, who can we get to save us?? Mary Lou …..oh dear god doomed I say doomed..
What “really strong reform programme”?
Is Kenny also saying that there was no work done by government while the Dail was closed?
“real work” ….. As opposed to?
When hes 102 Kenny will be still blaming the government before. You’ve had long enough to make a difference but you’ve done f*** all but s**** us even more
The ‘silly season’ for that eejit. Hard Times season for the rest of us.
Bye, bye Croke Park Agreement.
Can’t wait till I’m watching Reeling in the Years in about 20 years, saying to the wife, “do you remember that Croke Park Agreement”, and she’ll reply ” do you mean when they let them play rugby there.
Croke park agreement needs amendment not abolishing. If its abolished it’s the middle and low paid workers who’ll suffer.
The inflated top level hse and civil service wages are being used as a way of dragging up average public sector wages. They need cutting. Gardai, firemen, nurses etc have been hit hard enough already
Agreed John the very well paid hiding behind the low paid.
John and Norman
Exactly. Cap all public pay at 100k. Cutting home helps and other vital services for the most vulnerable in our society is repellent.
Silly Season! Lets wait till we qualify for our ministerial pensions, so we can do a runner and live in comfort! That’s the real agreement, made at the meeting!
Nope . silly season is just beginning ..
On with the muppet show !!
Please don’t insult the muppet show, that was intelligent and funny.
Always silly season with those clowns running the country!
Real Work??? love to these Muppets rig flaps on a Boeing 737
Not only is his comment a joke, but the same usual shite he talks about creating jobs and investment. Please give us something new to listen to! Please do something correctly.
Now to get down to business…let’s screw the taxpayers…..again
HARD!
He really makes me sick! At this stage every time he opens his mouth it’s like a hard slap in the face. Its the usual old kinny rhetoric nothing new to say and nothing new completed just a waste of good space. WHERE ARE YOUR PRE-ELECTION PROMISES ENDA? Oh I forgot it was all lies so you can retire in luxury……
It wasnt lies so he can retire in luxury (although he probably will)
This gombeen actually thinks he is doing good and he can fix the country by repeating what his marketing men told him to.
Everything else you said i agree with
Well said sir *doffs hat. I got ahead of myself there but your right, he doesn’t even have the foresight for that and he probably does think he the bees knees which is all the more laughable!
“The Government has a really packed agenda of very difficult decision and choices to make and challenging times up ahead,” said Kenny.
They haven’t found it difficult to tax us more thus far so why should it be difficult now ?
The challenging times ahead are for the little people, not those gombeens.
Real work, as in trying to figure out new and ingenious ways to tax the working class until we’re at breaking point. A lot of people already are beyond breaking point! Note to Enda: the people who you told on tv were not to blame for this crisis refuse to give one red cent more to pay for the mistakes of others. If you want to show us “real work”, tell your buddies in the IMF that we want a better deal. End of story.
what a jackass to come out with a statement like that, its no wonder hes made go on all fours with noonan and sleep under the table when the eu mafia meet hes like a skinny version of homer simpson except his screw ups as funny as they can look cost this country big time in lacking a real leader
No. The silly season has just begun!
Without a shadow of a doubt, the worst Government we have ever had. Silly season over my backside. “we have a mandate”. They got a mandate with promises and they have broken each and every on. Time to do the honorable thing Enda and resign. Lets see if you get a mandate now
An Irish politician doing the honorable thing ??? Has such a thing ever happened ???
enda & co are giving their pensions expenses salery wages and the rest of it……and their lunch money to the health services…..oh no silly season just begun here we go…………enda & eddie
It’s been silly season for 60 years.
History has shown that no government in the history of this state has been anything but self serving.
Childish remarks about opposition parties followed by the same nonsense by the opposition. None of these people represent the average person and very few ever had any intention to
Its the same the world over John, although this shower of self important gombeen twits seem to be particularly good at it.
Silly season thats the amount of silly holidays they get as well as being totally over paid
silly season household charge septic tank screw the poor give our money away ya they are silly things alright
“Silly season is over”??? That’s rich coming from the IMF/ECB’s lapdog.
Silly season over means the mad party he accused us of having & causing our economic downfall is over, serious work begins means now he’s goin to make us all pay for it now thru serious taxes & cuts. Enda really has gone mad, he really believes we are at fault, FF are at fault, anybody except the current government. If only we had a party worth voting for at the next election.
So you admit to not doing any work over the Summer Kenny? OK, let’s have those wages back please.
Silly season over means the mad party he accused us of having & causing our economic downfall is over, serious work begins means now he’s goin to make us all pay for it now thru serious taxes & cuts. Enda really has gone mad, he really believes we are at fault, FF are at fault, anybody except the current government. If only we had a party worth voting for at the next election.
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