David Higgins

She’s the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. 3 areas of the economy that have made huge advancements in the past decade due to advancements in IT and the internet. The government itself values the internet and it is a part of their new strategy for the smart economy. Yet the Tánaiste thinks that politicians shouldn’t waste their time on a computer or on the internet.

Yesterday during a debate on the minimum wage, Leo Varadkar asked the Minister about a leaked document he found online about the sensitive issue. The Minister’s response was not only a light year away from a proper answer but it was also a cheap shot at the Fine Gael TD and an insult to all internet users:

Given that I have much more to be doing than reading The Irish Times’ – and for that matter, from what I can see you spend 99.9 per cent of your time on the internet, and on the computer – I haven’t time to be reading The Irish Times for what they have to say… what I can say say is – I cannot, and it is my responsibility not to, make any public pronouncements [on this issue] on the basis we have to adjudicate within the department of enterprise, trade and employment…

Every time there is a small jobs announcement of a few dozen or so, the Tánaiste is always there to push her own profile and to pretend that the government is creating substantial jobs. These jobs thankfully are in the IT sector however the support she gives to these jobs is undermined now by her statement.

I always find it confusing that Minister Coughlan will always show up at a small jobs announcement yet she’ll never be there at the big job losses. When Dell shed 2,000 jobs in Limerick, the Minister should have been there. When SR Technics shed 1,000 jobs, the Minister should have been there. The post of employment Minister can’t be selective in being there for the good news. The Tánaiste needs to show that she cares about the jobs being lost just as much as the jobs being created.

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As if this strike on Monday couldn’t get any worse, SIPTU, the countries largest union has come out in support of the TEEU’s strike that is seeking an 11% pay rise in the midst of the worst recession this country has ever seen!

SIPTU president Jack O’Connor said that it was a stand against the profits of employers who are trying to drive down wages to their own benefit. I’ve never heard such crap. There are firms, particularly in construction going out of business everyday and one of the main reasons for this is that their wages are too high to maintain. That’s also why many employers are lowering wages. It’s an accepted fact amongst all economics and observers that we became a high cost and high wage economy. Now it’s time to go back the other way. Wage reductions are needed across all sectors, particularly at the top.

I know an electrician. He’s a family friend and throughout the years he’s fixed many problems in our house and he’s been a nice guy. That hasn’t changed however now when I think of electricians I now think of greed. An 11% pay rise is something that would only have been seen at the height of the boom as inflation soared. Now when we are beginning to see deflation, over 10,000 electricians are threatening to go on strike this Monday.

It is unacceptable that any workers group demand a pay rise in a time when we need to reduce costs, including wages. Electricians want to up their hourly rate to €24! People working in supermarkets only earn half the money and I don’t believe any trade is worth twice that. Electricians are skilled workers however they are below the likes of electrical engineers and the amount of time it takes to become an electrician is much less. I’m guessing that you could probably become one within a year or two.

Electricians benefitted immensely during the boom with small and large scale projects to be found everywhere across the country. From Office buildings to bathrooms, plugs and lights were needed and the Electricians did those jobs professionally. Electricians have also benefitted from nixers during the Celtic Tiger with no amount of that money going into tax. Fitting dozens of down lighters into South Dublin kitchens was a popular job I’m told. They are of course very complex and for some reason you can’t get energy efficient bulbs for them!!!

If this ridiculous strike goes ahead then electricians will pull construction projects to a halt. Construction firms are already feeling the pinch of the recession and this won’t help them. Consumers would also be left out as repairs on houses cannot be made. This could leave many people in the dark!

The stance taken by their employers is equally startling. They’re seeking a 10% pay cut which I fell is also excessive. I think both sides need to meet somewhere in the middle. The TEEU union needs to stop being greedy and try instead to maintain pay at current levels for their workers and the employers need to bring their demands down to something around 5%.

It’s likely that this strike will go ahead however it will not generate any public support. I certainly won’t give it any backing and most people will be shocked when the demand of 11% reaches the headlines. After about a week the strike will be over and everything will be back to normal. Both sides will then agree on something a little more reasonable.

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That time of the year again. Lots of work to be done but no time to do it. The holidays of TD’s and Brian Cowen’s tan takes precedence over the few dozen bills before the house in the coming days. Recently we’ve seen other problems in the Dáil with the house suspended for 3 hours one afternoon after TD’s ran out of things to say. The Seanad is the house that everyone talks about as being in need of reform however everyone forgets that the main house is just as flawed. Here’s some changes I believe will make things run better in the national parliament.

1. Change the holiday dates of the Dáil so that there is never a gap of longer than a month. The current summer recess of 3 months is a luxury only endured by secondary school students and their teachers and even we only get 2 weeks during Christmas. (TD’s get 4!). This change would mean that the Dáil would have no end. It would run continuously with spaced breaks to ensure TD’s have holidays and time to catch up with constituency duties etc. A Dáil with no end would not have a backlog of bills to be passed and it would ensure that all legislature is scrutinized and that amendments can be made orderly and can be considered properly.
2. When the Dáil broke for 3 hours a few weeks ago both side of the house were to blame. The opposition underestimated it’s speaking time however the government had no bills in backup to be discussed. This must become a mandatory system where the government can have a bill in reserve. This will ensure efficient running of the house and it wouldn’t leave time wasted.
3. Finally we need to increase the amount of time that the Dáil spends in session. Currently it sits less days than I do in school and the total time would be less also. I know TD’s and ministers have many other tasks to do and many of those aren’t even in Dublin however there will always be someone around to speak in the house, after all there are 166 TD’s. Keeping the Dáil open 5 days a week would be a very positive step and it would give TD’s who normally wouldn’t have an opportunity to speak a chance to air their views. It also puzzles me that the Dáil starts at 10.30 am when most workers are at their desks by 9. This also needs to be changed.

I think many of these measures would have solved the problems we saw these past few weeks and there is no doubt that my proposals are pro-democracy.

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