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Charles McCreevy (born 30 September 1949) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services from 2004 to 2010, Minister for Finance from 1997 to 2004, Minister for Tourism and Trade from 1993 to 1994 and Minister for Social Welfare from 1992 to 1993. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kildare constituency (and later the Kildare North constituency) from 1977 to 2004.
Thus, his post-compulsory education was attained by winning scholarships. His political career began with when he won a seat in the Kildare constituency at the 1977 general election, which was a landslide for Charles Haughey's supporters in Fianna Fáil and he was re-elected at every subsequent election until he joined the European Commission. Between 1979 and 1985, he served as an elected member of the Kildare County Council.
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, and a personal friend of its erstwhile leader, Mary Harney, McCreevy chose to remain a member of Fianna Fáil, where he would eventually serve in joint FF-PD Governments.
In 1993, he became Minister for Tourism and Trade, which he held until the government fell in December 1994. In opposition under new Fianna Fáil leader Bertie Ahern, McCreevy was appointed Opposition Spokesperson for Finance. In this role he was viewed as actively pro-enterprise, anti-spending and a key advocate for tax cuts.
McCreevy was a consistent advocate of cutting taxes and spending. As Minister for Finance, he had an opportunity to implement these policies. During his term in Finance, he made many changes to simplify 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. He maintained a significant surplus during his seven years in Finance by forecasting tax takes which were lower than average. He simultaneously implemented a tax-cutting programme, major increases in health, education and pension spending as well as increasing investment in infrastructural development to 5% of GDP.
Unemployment fell from 10% to 4.4%. Real GDP growth fell steadily, however, from a peak of over 11% in 1997 when McCreevy took office to just over 4% in 2004. Real GDP growth across the full period of the Celtic Tiger represented by far the highest average of any western European country. Inflation was increased from 1.5% in 1997, to 5.5% in 2000, before falling steadily to just over 2% in 2004.
From 1997 to 2000, McCreevy cut Capital Gains Tax from 40% to 20%, and extended Section 23 Tax allowances to the Upper Shannon Area (against the advice of the Finance Department) in the Finance Acts of 1998 and 1999. These included special tax incentives targeted at the area covered by the pilot Rural Renewal Scheme, which was later criticised by the Heritage Council for being introduced without a "Baseline Audit" to inform the level and scale of development to be supported through the scheme, not identifying priority areas suitable for development, not providing any strategic protection for designated areas including the corridor of the River Shannon nor promoting the use of sustainable design and building materials in any new build or refurbishment project supported by the scheme.
These two measures of cutting Capital Gains Tax and providing tax incentives for property development in thinly populated rural areas have been partly responsible for the explosion in housing and commercial property speculation, which led ultimately to the collapse of the Irish banking system.
Frequently outspoken, McCreevy sometimes made comments which attracted controversy. For example, McCreevy once referred to the Irish health system as a "black hole" Dáil Debates Report and reacted to the initial Irish rejection of the Nice Treaty as "a sign of a healthy democracy". "Nice vote a ‘wake-up call’ says McCreevy" , irishtimes.com, 27 June 2011. He later explained this as reflecting a wake-up call to politicians and others who, like him, had expected an almost automatic Yes vote. McCreevy also prompted warnings from the European Commission, who claimed that his £2 billion tax giveaway in 2000 would be inflationary, and harmful to the Irish economy. "Ireland Warns of Slowdown" , bbc.co.uk; accessed 4 June 2017.
One of McCreevy's initiatives as Minister for Finance was Decentralization, involving moving government departments and state agencies to other parts of the country and moving 10,000 public servants with them. This target was never reached, with only 3,159 jobs having moved outside of Dublin and a wide range of state agencies having remained in Dublin. The project was abandoned in 2011, with the government having spent close to €100 million on offices that mostly remained unused.
In 2008, as Ireland entered recession, "Celtic Tiger dead as recession bites" , irishexaminer.com; accessed 4 June 2017. McCreevy's stewardship has been cited as one of the reasons why the 2008 financial crisis affected Ireland especially hard, due to his "light touch" regulation of the financial system. Former Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald attributed Ireland's dire economic state in 2009, on a series of "calamitous" government policy errors by the McCreevy as finance minister, who between the years of 2000 and 2003, boosted public spending by 48pc while cutting income tax. FitzGerald says crisis started with McCreevy, independent.ie; accessed 4 June 2017.
In 2015, McCreevy gave evidence to the Oireachtas Joint Committee of Inquiry into the country's banking crisis and denied his policies as minister had contributed to the crisis. A legal warning was given to McCreevy at the Banking Inquiry after he refused to answer, when asked, if he believed there had been a property bubble, but then accepted that from 2003 there had been a property bubble.
"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."
When McCreevy resigned his Dáil seat on his appointment to the European Commission, his son, Charlie Jnr, declined the opportunity to be the Fianna Fáil candidate in the resulting by-election. The seat was won by the independent candidate, Catherine Murphy.
McCreevy sided with the major record labels who are trying to extend a fifty-year copyright exemption to ninety five years. EU to push on music copyright , ft.com; accessed 4 June 2017. EU to Extend Music Copyright to 95 Years , torrentfreak.com; accessed 4 June 2017. In 2008, McCreevy was a supporter of attempts to introduce in the European Union. McCreevy wants to legalise Software Patents via a US-EU patent treaty , press.ffii.org; accessed 4 June 2017.
Following his departure from the commission, McCreevy was forced to resign from the board of a new banking firm, NBNK Investments, after an EU ethics committee found a conflict of interest with his work as a European Commissioner in charge of financial regulation. This is first time that a former member of the EU executive had to resign a directorship the 2003 system for overseeing the work of retired commissioners.
In the event, the referendum was held on 12 June and the Irish electorate did not approve the Treaty. McCreevy was heavily criticised in the European Parliament, by the leader of the Socialist group in the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, who demanded on 17 June 2008, that McCreevy be removed as a European Commissioner. Schulz slightly misquoted McCreevy, whom he stated had contributed to Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty with remarks during the referendum campaign that no "sane person" would read the document.
"This man goes to Ireland and says he has not read the treaty and tells people there is no need to read it," Mr Schultz said during a heated debate on the referendum at the European Parliament in Strasbourg today." Call for McCreevy removal in heated Brussels debate, irishtimes.com, 18 June 2008.
McCreevy joined the board of Sports Direct International plc on 31 March 2011 and is also a director of Ryanair. He receives annual pension payments of €119,177.
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