David Higgins

With both Labour and Fine Gael now polling in and around 30% in the opinion polls it’s important that we look deep into both party’s policy documents and policy positions on all the major issues in Ireland today.

Labour may have a strong uppercut with knockout one-liners and visible anger in the Dáil, led by Eamon Gilmore, however do they have a plan to save the country?

Both parties’ websites have policy pages. Labour’s is their “Our ideas and Policies” page while Fine Gael has a “recent policy catalogue” on its site. I have drawn from both these pages to compare the two parties.

Public Sector

Let’s first jump back to last year’s budget and to the thorny issue of public sector pay. Labour is well known as a political wing for the trade union movement and thus their pre-budget proposal was lacking in specific detail. Both Fine Gael and Labour committed to the government’s reduction of €1.3bn in the public sector pay bill however Labour only gave an aspiration to achieve this reduction through negotiations.

Fine Gael, on the other hand, came out with an extensive and detailed alternative budget that gave detailed breakdowns of where the money would come from. This specified that the €1.3bn would be made by a direct cut in pay to those earning above €30,000 in the public sector. There was no aspiration or hope for the future, just hard figures that spelled out the reality. Fine Gael even went above the €1.3bn suggested and proposed a further €500m reduction in the public sector pay bill through redundancies in the HSE, CIE and through the closing down of wasteful quangos.

Next, we come to the Croke Park deal, a sweet guarantee that ensures not a single pay cut or forced redundancy in the public sector unless there is a further deterioration in the economy. Seems pretty fair to me and that’s why Fine Gael has come out in favour of the proposal. We haven’t engaged in a massive campaign to promote the deal, or to influence union members. We’ve simply stated our position on the matter, a position the public are entitled to know.

However Labour have ducked and dodged this issue right from the beginning. They will not state any position on the deal and if we are to take their members view we can see that two motions were passed at this year’s party conference calling for the restoration of the budget pay cuts and an abolition of the pension levy! That’s the only position I’ve seen from Labour on this issue and so I am led to conclude that this is their policy position on the matter.

Banking

Labour and Fine Gael have roughly the same view on this issue, the establishment of a state run investment bank. This is the good bank option, as opposed to the government’s bad bank, NAMA. Fine Gael announced this policy first and then Labour followed suit months later with an almost identical proposal.

The main difference between the two parties is that Labour favours an ideologically lead nationalisation of the banks. This would be catastrophic for the banks because ultimately a bank belongs free in the marketplace. It’s almost like releasing an animal back into the wild where it belongs, with all the other animals. Keeping a bank nationalised is like keeping an animal in captivity.

Stimulus

Labour has no known policy for a stimulus package for the economy while Fine Gael has a plan to create over 100,000 jobs in the energy, communications and water sectors. It’s called NewERA and it’s a costed and well thought out plan to improve our infrastructure and create employment in the process. Sadly, once again Labour fails to even produce a plan on this, let alone to include specifics costings of their plan.

Health

I have to give Labour some credit in this area. They were the first party to endorse the principal of universal healthcare back in 2001. Fine Gael has since come around to the concept and has adopted a different model based on the Dutch system. The fundamental difference here again is specifics. The Fine Gael proposal has plenty of detail and they’ve even created a dedicated website to explain their policy and what it will provide to the public. Labour continues to only support the principal and it seems they simply want a full bureaucratic public healthcare system that has plagued our system and other health systems in the UK, France and elsewhere in Europe.

The Dutch model means that everyone has private health coverage, it has ended hospital waiting lists and the Fine Gael plan proposes FREE GP care for all, while keeping healthcare spending at its present levels. This can be done by cutting out all the managerial waste in the HSE and by employing competition between insurance companies. Fine Gael sees the benefit of the free market while Labour still remains in its backward mode of socialism and state control.

Education

Education is a huge priority for Fine Gael. Following the budget in December, Education Spokesman Brian Hayes organised large demonstrations against the removal of special needs teachers from a school in Tallaght. This school had 2/3 of its staff removed, in what can only be described as a heartless budget.

As well as protecting the vulnerable in our education system Fine Gael has two key proposals in the third level sector. The first is the re-introduction of third level fees. Our principal is that no student should pay at the door but instead pay after they have completed college. This would be a student loan system similar to many other countries across Europe and in the US. It’s fair to the students and it provides much needed funds to colleges and universities and this will maintain a high standard of facilities and service into the future.

Sadly the Labour party won’t budge on this issue. They aspire to a completely free third level sector, something that is neither practical nor affordable. Since free third level access was introduced in the 1990s it has only served to give higher income families an easy ride while it has not lead to a higher participation rate among lower income families. With Fine Gael’s proposal, supports can be given to those who need it, while those who can pay, pay.

Fine Gael has also recognised the economic benefits of overseas students coming to study in Irish universities. Simple measures that are outlined in their policy document would lead to tens of thousands of more students coming here each year.

Labour also has a policy document called “Priorities in Education”. Again, it’s another document that is purely aspirational and it doesn’t take any regard to our huge deficit and national debt. It even calls for an increase in education spending and to make our spending on education higher than European norms! We just don’t have the money to do that. I agree with Labour’s views on the separation of Church and school however otherwise it’s a completely useless document.

Half of the document is “Labour’s school for the 21st Century”. Firstly this school isn’t theirs, it’s designed by an architecture firm and it’s nothing new! My school in Knocklyon, built in 2000 and other schools like Malahide Community School have almost identical designs. Labour thinks it’s looking to the future, but it’s actually a decade behind! This cross section is almost identical to my school.

On Bailout Tuesday last, the government told us how much of OUR money it was giving to the banks. Anglo Irish Bank, a small business bank is set to get the largest bailout, €18billion.

Much of the debate now focuses on how to deal with Anglo. Let it go to the wall or prop it up. It’s argued that letting it fail now would cost more to the taxpayer. “It’s too big to fail”.

This is a worthy discussion, however we need a bit of perspective here. Why are we bailing it out in the first place???

The government is gaining praise internationally because it is making the “tough decisions”. Bullshit!!

Maybe if Fianna Fáil and the PDs hadn’t let this happen in the first place, we wouldn’t have to bail them out.

People within banking have been saying since 2004 that the system was rotten. Easy credit allowed billions to be lent out with little chance of that money being returned.

Even in 2007 Michael Somers, then head of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), told an Oireachtas committee that Anglo was in trouble, so he was reluctant to deposit money with it.

Somers was one of the brightest people working in government yet nobody would listen to him. Fianna Fáil didn’t have the balls to stop the madness before it was too late. And of course, 2007 was an election year!!

So, maybe FF have it right this time, maybe bailing out Anglo is our only option. BUT, who gave us this option in the first place? Who sent us down this one way street?? Fianna Fáil, and don’t you forget it!

A passport is a human right of any citizen.

It proves nationality, but more importantly it’s the means by which we travel in and out of this island. Without a passport you cannot go on holidays, you cannot make business trips and you can’t even emigrate to find work.

450,000 people in this country are out of work. It’s bad enough that they’ve lost their jobs, and it’s even worse because there are no jobs for them here. Now, to compound the problem, the unemployed must queue for a passport overnight, and they may not even get one because of the selfish actions of those who still have a job!

The CPSU’s industrial action on the passport office in Molesworth Street is not hitting the government in any way. It is only attacking the people that they claim to protect, the “ordinary working people”.

It is now reported that over 50,000 passport applications remain unprocessed in the system. The industrial action is primarily to blame for this, but it is not the only cause of the problem.

There are only three machines in the country that make passports! What’s more startling to learn is that two of those machines are now broken! However, let’s assume that a passport machine only works an eight hour day, like the average unionised worker. Surely, when there is a threefold reduction in the number of machines available then we can simply increase by three fold the productivity of the machine.

What I’m simply saying is, have the passport machine running 24/7 to clear the backlog, it’s that simple. However, we need workers to operate the machine and God forbid that any public servant should work “unsociable hours”.

People have lost thousands of Euro because they’ve missed their flights, and we must ask the question whether the government or the unions are liable to pay compensation. Today, Fine Gael TD Alan Shatter called for the CPSU to pay for any compensation claims. I assume by his comments that the Department of Foreign Affairs might have successful compensation claims to deal with. I hope the unions pay the full cost of other actions!

This crisis also raises the question, should we privatise passport production?

I’d be firmly in favour of this proposal. Private firms cut out the waste that is a cancer on our public services. They would run the passport office efficiently and they would get passports to citizens with minimal waiting times. Obviously, there is the risk that the private firm would use this facility for malicious purposes however if the government provides the same oversight as it does the passport office presently then there is no risk.

Either we privatise the system or we just face the same crisis the next time the unions don’t get what they want. We are citizens of Ireland and a passport is our right. Don’t let a vested interest take control of your life, and don’t let them hold you for random!

The Celtic Tiger saw a splurge in easy money. If you wanted a loan, you got it! For a car, boat, house, or TV, it was a free for all. Now the banks are out of cash and everything we bought is worth nothing!

The principal of credit is an admirable one. It allows people to get what they want and pay for it later.

However it does not come without a price. Interest is usually applied on a loan but there can be greater consequences.

For some weird reason Shakespeare knows our world better than we do! He saw these consequences quite clearly and many of his great plays detail them.

In 3rd year we studied The Merchant of Venice. This entire play revolves around a loan. The Jew, Shylock, seeks his revenge over Antonio by causing him to default on his loan. Today in Ireland you get sent to jail for this (in the most extreme of cases), but in those days you were removed of a pound of flesh!

Shylock is like a relentless bank that will stop at nothing to get its money back. At least in those days you knew the forfeit of the loan. During the Celtic Tiger the bank told you nothing and the government said that prosperity would last forever!

Even in Hamlet, which I now study in 5th year, the writing is on the wall that loans are to be avoided at all costs.

Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.

It ruins marriage, you lose friends, and most importantly you can lose everything you own!!!

This crisis has been the wake up call us Irish need.  China, who’s population save a large % of their income, is much better placed to deal with recessions like these. Thankfully some of us are taking the message seriously.

40% of adults are now debt free

This good news story shows that Irish people are beginning to save, but for how long?

If we see a boom again will personal spending rocket and will the loan cycle begin again?

It needs to be stopped and people need to realise that living within their means is the best way to live.

So, both the government and the opposition want a crack down on head shops. For those of you who don’t know what they are, you should know because they’re everywhere these days.

They sell legal highs such as blow and Mephedrone which are all milder forms of drugs like cocaine and hash. The sensations are said to be less, however in some cases they have a long lasting effect which has drawn casual users to these shops.

Public Anger, expressed as usual through Joe Duffy has moved the majority of the country against the shops however we can’t simply view these shops as bad things, we have to look at the positives.

Jobs! Head shops provide employment and its simple as that. If one shop is opening every week then there’s one person coming off the dole queues every day (assuming that there’s an average of 7 working in the shop).

The next positive is that it removes business from the drug gangs and dealers. With countless gangland murders this month alone, it’s well known that the money that buys the guns is the money that we the people bought drugs with. If these people move from dealers to head shops then they remove the awkwardness of the dealer, they get it for cheaper and they still get the high they were looking for.

Sure, the dealers will still have their loyal business from addicts who buy heroin, but it’s the casual users with money who are keeping the drug gangs going. If we look beneath the surface, head shops can be a solution to gangland crime!

They also have a wider benefit to the economy. If the government were to regulate these shops properly then large VAT receipts could be gained and the legal highs could be liable to levies and tariffs, similar to tobacco and alcohol.

This government regulation must address other aspects before these shops can be welcomed though.

Firstly, they must ban all under 18s from entry to these shops.

Secondly, they must have similar regulations to sex shops. Advertising must be controlled to avoid attracting younger persons and to discourage further people taking up these drugs.

Thirdly we must see proper product control and traceability. We need to know, like any product where it came from and whether it’s safe or not!

If these measures can be met I don’t see why we can’t keep these shops open.

Today’s Exchequer figures make for grim reading.

They show that our tax take has collapsed in the past two years. While this has eased off we still need to raise more in tax to help bridge the €22bn deficit.

Next week’s budget is going to comprise mainly of a carbon tax and a few other taxes to make €1bn. This is part of the €4bn savings proposed in the budget. While the carbon tax is a positive measure, albeit disruptive, it should not be the only tax change we make in this budget.

The first thing I’d plan to do is radically reduce the VAT rate. It’s currently at 21.5%, why not send it down to 11.5%? This would mean an immediate 10% drop in the price of all goods and it would instantly boost consumer spending. This would also lead to job creation and retention in the retail sector. Now, I know that the take the government gets could suffer however I feel it should be looked at. Either way something needs to be done about cross border shopping to the UK and I think this is the first place we should look. 10% might be too much to cut it by but we should definitely bring the rate below 20%.

The second measure would be to introduce a 3rd band of income tax. In principal, I’m not in favour of hunting the rich for cash because it does harm investment. However, there needs to be a perception of fairness and I think a 50% Income Tax rate for those earning over €100k would not do much harm. The fact is that taxing the rich only squeezes a few extra cent from them but it’s a sure move to make everyone else happy. Irish people seem to want to take everything from the wealthy and successful.

Yesterday saw most Public Servants walk out of work to protest at the cuts that haven’t happened yet. From early morning pickets were placed throughout the country at various locations.

However, also from early morning there were traffic jams on the roads leading to border towns like Newry and Enniskillen. Coincidence? I think not. There are private sector workers who had to take the day off to mind their kids who had no school to go to. However it’s likely that at least half of the shoppers were public servants who caused the 7 mile queue into Newry Town Centre this morning.

It’s a PR disaster for the Unions. General Secretary of IMPACT Peter McLoone dismissed this as “nonsense” on both TV3 and RTÉ. He said that public servants turned out in their “tens of thousands” to picket government departments and buildings. That’s great, but what were the other 200,000 public servants doing if only a few tens of thousands of them were out?

Also last night Dublin City saw huge volumes of people in its clubs and bars. One taxi driver commented that it was like a Friday or Saturday night with three times the fares for a Monday. The same taxi-man overheard a conversation between some of his public sector passengers. “They better hold the next strike on a Friday so we get a 3 day weekend”!

Oh poor cash strapped public servants. The world’s smallest violin playing the world’s saddest song just for you!

I passed my closed school today only to find one person on the picket, our Caretaker. Sure, some of the teachers were at the mass protest at the department of education but it seriously shows a lack of solidarity when he’s the only one there. He’d be the lowest paid of the staff of the school and so I sympathise with him. He was out in the cold while other teachers stayed in and corrected homework.

People on the dole should be furious about this. They’ve lost their Christmas Bonus and they are set to lose more from their support after next month’s budget. For many the loss of the bonus has meant that many will forgo buying presents this year with the cash going to repay bills or mortgages. They look at public servants who have the day off and who have the cash to spend up north or in packed shopping centres like Dundrum and they cringe.

This strike really has been a disaster. Sure the government saved a few bob from not paying the workers but it won’t be near the €70m that is borrowed everyday to pay for public services.

Next Thursday we have the same thing again. I can’t wait. I bet the queue to Newry will be 10 miles this time ?

Story Here
Just look at this fella. Smug as hell, just waiting to take your money from you. So why give it to him?

He’s the presenter of Play TV, TV3′s late night game show. It comes on after midnight and it costs €1.50 to ring in, whether you get through or not.

The games are mind puzzles and sometimes the answer is clear or it isn’t. Either way it draws hundreds to ring in and fight for the measly four-figure prizes. However only a handful ever get to answer the questions.

When you ring in you are told simply to try again and the call ends, all for €1.50. Rip-off? Yes, but it’s still your own fault if you’re stupid enough to ring in again!

People have a right to complain but they were the ones who dialled the number. If you actually think that you will win something from these shows then you deserve to have your money taken from you in the first place.

Dear Teacher,

St. Colmcilles Community School has always prided itself on a high level of punctuality and attendance. Our tight rules in this area reflects the school’s belief that every minute spent in school is precious and that time spent out of school puts in jeopardy the academic prospects of its students.

The teachers unions that represent the staff of this school will soon ballot their members on industrial action ahead of December’s budget. The proposals will allow their members to go on strike if rates of pay are reduced or if there are compulsory redundancies imposed on their members.

I am urging all teachers to vote against strike action.

A strike would only serve to damage the education of the students of this school. Pupils studying for either the Junior or Leaving Certificate would miss out on vital information and this could affect their performance in the state examinations next June. Ultimately it would be the fault and responsibility of teachers if a 6th year student were to be five or ten points short of their desired college course. I know that parents, students and especially teachers don’t want this situation to arise.

The proposed cuts in the budget are going to be tough for many of you and coming from a family where income is down over 20% I can sympathise greatly with your situations. However the response to cuts should not be to cut days out of the school year or to cut other engagements like parent teacher meetings. It is the height of hypocrisy.

Teachers have a battle to fight with the government and it seems that the unions want to fight it in the hallways of our schools instead of at the gates of Leinster House. I condemn this completely and I will not stand for the students of this country being held for ransom.

I hope many of you will put the needs of your students before the desires of your union when you cast your ballot,

Thank You

David Higgins

Today SIPTU, the countries largest union said that it was seeking a 3.5% pay rise for health service workers that they are owed after the 2008 benchmarking. They have threatened industrial action should the government refuse to bow down and kiss their feet!

James Larkin once said

“Comrades – We are living in momentous times.”

There isn’t a quote more appropriate to describe what we face in this country. €400 million leaks from this country every week and this is before €54 billion is spent on NAMA.

It’s clear from these figures that extra money has to be raised to fill that gap in either the form of increased taxation or cuts in public spending. The former has been ruled out by Brian when he said:

“Read my lips, No tax hikes”

So, cuts it is then.

The bulk of these will have to come from the public sector wages and pensions. They are in secure jobs vs. the near half a million unemployed from the private sector, they have secure pensions vs. a loss in the value of pensions for many private sector workers and they are paid significantly more that their public sector counterparts. The pension levy has reduced this wage gap however it still stands at around 10%, or in the case of lower paid workers there’s a difference of over 15%.

It is for these reasons that there has to be a reduction in public sector wages instead of a ridiculous 3.5% rise.

The country can’t afford it and even if we could it would be an insult to the thousands of private sector workers who are struggling through this crisis too.

SIPTU should wake up and smell the coffee. Their threat of industrial action would not only severely damage the economy, were it to be acted upon, but it would also put at risk the lives of thousands of patients in the health service who would fall victim to such action.