Charlie McCreevy

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European Commissioner
Charlie McCreevy

In office
2004 – present
Preceded by	David Byrne
Born	30 September 1949 Sallins, County Kildare

(Charles) Charlie McCreevy, (Irish name: Cathal Mac Riabhaigh; born 30 September, 1949) is an Irish politician. He is the European Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services portfolio since 2004. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil TD in 1977 and held the seat in Kildare North until 2004 when he became Ireland's European Commissioner. ^[1] In successive governments he served as Minister for Social Welfare (1992–1993), Minister for Tourism & Trade (1993–1994) and Minister for Finance (1997–2004).

1 Early life and career
2 Relationship with Charles Haughey
3 Early ministerial career
4 Minister for Finance
5 European Commissioner
6 Political career
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Early life and career

Born in Sallins, County Kildare, McCreevy was educated locally at Naas CBS and at Gormanston Franciscan College. He studied Commerce at University College Dublin and went on to become a chartered accountant. Due to his modest family background (his father was a lock-keeper on the Grand Canal, a job carried on by his mother after the death of his father) his post-compulsory education was achieved through winning scholarships.

His political career began with his Kildare North victory in the 1977 landslide election and he has been re-elected at every subsequent election. Between 1979 and 1985 he was also elected as member of Kildare County Council.

[edit] Relationship with Charles Haughey

In the December 1979 Fianna Fáil leadership contest, McCreevy strongly supported the controversial Charles Haughey who narrowly won the post. However, in a time of severe budgetary difficulties for Ireland, McCreevy soon became disillusioned with the new Taoiseach and his fiscal policies. In October 1982 McCreevy launched a motion of no-confidence in the party leader, which evolved into a leadership challenge by Desmond O'Malley. In an open ballot and supported by only 21 of his 79 colleagues (known as the "Gang of 22"), the motion failed and McCreevy was temporarily expelled from the parliamentary party. In later years O'Malley was expelled from Fianna Fáil itself and formed the Progressive Democrats (PDs), espousing conservative fiscal policies. Although considered ideologically close to the PDs, McCreevy chose to remain a member of Fianna Fáil, where he would eventually serve in joint FF-PD Governments.

[edit] Early ministerial career

For his first 15 years as TD, while Haughey remained leader, McCreevy remained a backbencher. In 1992, Albert Reynolds became Taoiseach and McCreevy was appointed Minister for Social Welfare. In this role, he is principally rememberd for a set of 12 cost-cutting measures, collectively termed the "dirty dozen", which were mostly minor in their direct impact but provided a major political headache for his party in the 1992 General Election. In 1993 he became Minister for Tourism & Trade, which he held until the government fell in December 1994. In opposition, and under new Fianna Fáil leader Bertie Ahern, McCreevy was named to the Front Bench as Spokesman for Finance. In this role he was viewed as actively pro-enterprise, anti-spending and a key advocate for tax cuts.

[edit] Minister for Finance

In 1997, Fianna Fáil returned to power and McCreevy became Minister for Finance. His period coincided with the Celtic Tiger era which saw the rapid growth^{[citation needed]} of the Irish economy. A consistent advocate of cutting taxes and spending^{[citation needed]}, he then had an opportunity to implement these policies. In 1999 he announced the biggest give-away Budget in the history of the state. His budget included individualisation measures to reduce the tax-burden for couples where both parties were earning. However, couples on a similar income where one parent worked in the home would not see a similar reduction in their tax bill and following much public debate an extra tax allowance was introduced for stay-at-home spouses. It later emerged^{[citation needed]} that his Tax Strategy group had advised against introducing individualisation due to reasons of cost rather than principle. The change is viewed as making a significant contribution to increased female participation in the workforce.

During his term in Finance, he made many changes to simplify^{[citation needed]} the tax system and presided over Ireland's entry to Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union and later, the changeover to the Euro. In the early 2000s, when Irish economic growth fell back, he maintained strict control on growth in government spending. He maintained a significant primary surplus during his 7 years in Finance, while also implementing the tax-cutting programme, major increases in health, education and pension funding as well as increasing investment in infrastructural development to 5% of GNP. Unemployment was halved to 4.4%.

Frequently outspoken, McCreevy sometimes made comments^{[citation needed]} that were out-of-line with his party colleagues and attracted controversy. McCreevy once referred^{[citation needed]} to the Irish health system as a "black hole" and reacted to the initial Irish rejection of the Nice Treaty as good for democracy.^{[citation needed]}. He later explained this as reflecting a wake-up call to politicians and others who, like him, had expected an almost automatic Yes vote.

[edit] European Commissioner

In 2004, McCreevy was selected by the Government to replace David Byrne as Ireland's European Commissioner. He was appointed to the Internal Market and Services portfolio by President of the European Commission José Manuel Durão Barroso. At his confirmation hearings in the European Parliament MEPs described^{[citation needed]} him as “fluent and relaxed” giving straightforward answers in a refreshing and engaging manner.

His approach to his portfolio is;^[2]

You will find me ready to meet, discuss, listen and argue on how best to deliver to our citizens the real benefits of an Internal Market. There are enormous challenges facing the EU in the coming period on which we all must find common ground. I want our policies to show that EU means something real and positive to the people in Europe

In the recent discussions on the proposed EU membership of Turkey, McCreevy has aligned^{[citation needed]} himself with other commissioners who favour some sort of arrangement that falls short of actual accession.

His performance can be wooden in interpretation of his role in relation to those to whom he is addressing.^[3]

Charlie McCreevy got a frosty reception from British businessmen at a dinner in London recently. Guest of honour at the Association of Corporate Treasurers’ annual dinner, attended by 1,500 financial types, McCreevy horribly misjudged his audience. British businessmen chafing at excessive EU red tape are not in the mood to hear about Brussels’ “light touch”, or that its regulations are “tip-top”, but that’s what McCreevy claimed.

[edit] Political career

Oireachtas
Preceded by: Patrick Malone (Fine Gael)	Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for Kildare 1977–1997	Succeeded by: Constituency abolished
Preceded by: Newly created constituency	Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for Kildare North 1997–2004	Succeeded by: Catherine Murphy (Independent)
Political offices
Preceded by: Brendan Daly	Minister for Social Welfare 1992–1993	Succeeded by: Michael Woods
Preceded by: Máire Geoghegan-Quinn	Minister for Tourism, Transport & Communications January 1993	Succeeded by: Minister for Transport, Energy & Communications Brian Cowen
Preceded by: Minister for Energy Brian Cowen	Minister for Tourism & Trade 1993–1994	Succeeded by: Enda Kenny
Preceded by: Ivan Yates	Opposition Spokesperson on Finance 1995–1997	Succeeded by: Michael Noonan
Preceded by: Ruairí Quinn	Minister for Finance 1997–2004	Succeeded by: Brian Cowen
Preceded by: David Byrne	Irish European Commissioner 2004–	Succeeded by: Current Incumbent
Preceded by: Frits Bolkestein	European Commissioner for the Internal Market 2004–	Succeeded by: Current Incumbent

[edit] References

^ His son, Charlie McCreevy, Jr, declined the opportunity to be the Fianna Fáil candidate in the resulting by-election and the seat was won by the Independent candidate, Catherine Murphy.
^ http://europa.eu.int/comm/commission_barroso/mccreevy/speeches/2004-10-07/index_en.htm EU Parliament confirmation hearings
^ [1] McCreevy bores for Europe at City bash