Ireland may be a few heartbeats away from intervention by the IMF, but the government on Friday had a novel message for the public: Let them eat cheese.
Irish Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith announced an EU-funded scheme that will enable the country to tuck into the EU’s cheese mountain: 53 tonnes of fresh cheddar will be distributed from Nov. 15 with collection centers in towns and cities around the country.
The minister said the scheme was “an important means of contributing towards the well-being of the most deprived citizens in the community.”
“I am very conscious that many people find themselves in difficult circumstances at present and I want to commend the work of the many charitable organizations who are working on the front line to bring what comfort and relief they can,” Smith said.
The initiative was immediately attacked by the opposition Fine Gael party, who called it an insult to the country, which is suffering the worst financial crisis in its history.
Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan announced on Thursday that his budget next month would cut 5.2 billion euros (US$7.3 billion) from public spending, twice the amount first suggested and coming on top of swinging cuts already made in last year’s budget.
Fine Gael’s agriculture spokesman, Andrew Doyle, said: “People on the breadline would rather the government’s attention was on solving the economic crisis they caused and providing jobs rather than on this ridiculous announcement.”
“This shows just how out of touch Fianna Fail and the Greens truly are. Maybe looking down from their ministerial Mercs, [Irish Prime Minister] Brian Cowen, Brendan Smith et al think that all the Irish people want or need is cheese,” Doyle said..
“It goes to show that they think that providing free cheese will soft soap the electorate and make us all forget the mess Fianna Fail made of the country and the hardship Brian Lenihan will inflict on everyone. It won’t,” he added.
In the past butter has been given out to the needy, but this year it was felt cheese was easier to distribute. The cheese has been manufactured in Ireland and will be bought by the government from the Irish Dairy Board and made available through charities.
The initiative was welcomed by the Society of St Vincent de Paul, which said it has seen the numbers of people seeking assistance soar.
“We have people on social welfare, single mothers, the elderly, lone parents. Half the calls we take are about food and energy,” a spokesman for the charity said.
But the announcement tested the patience of the wider public, who have already been warned of deep cuts to pensions, pay and social welfare in the forthcoming budget.
“The fact that Marie Antoinette said ‘let them eat cake’ was the beginning of the revolution — is that what they want?” a caller to RTE’s Joe Duffy phone-in radio show said.
“Have they taken leave of their senses?” another caller asked. “It’s not cheese that people who have lost their jobs that people are worried about, it’s about how they’re going to tell their children or grandchildren that Santa has very little money.”
“What are they going to tell their children and grandchildren: that Santa has cheese instead?” the caller said.
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