AN ELECTION manifesto with no new spending commitments and no gimmicks was how Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin described his party’s programme launched yesterday.
Mr Martin said it fulfilled his commitment to a new kind of campaign from Fianna Fáil and a new politics for Ireland.
“We have put aside the old approach of developing a long list of proposals on every issue and for every interest group,” said Mr Martin, who insisted his priority was to achieve a lasting economic recovery.
“In drawing up this manifesto I set a clear limit. There are no new spending commitments, there are no gimmicks and there are no poll-tested soundbites targeted at different sections of the population. The reason for this is simple, the money is not there.”
He accused the other parties of failing to come up with costed budget plans showing year by year what every government department will spend and how the targets for reducing the deficit will be achieved.
Mr Martin said the EU-IMF programme had provided an all-purpose excuse for other parties to avoid the hard decisions by claiming there was an easy way out. “The truth, of course, is very different. There are no magic wands and no credible, soft-option solutions.”
He was scathing about Labour leader Eamon Gilmore’s reference to the head of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, as “a mere civil servant”. Mr Martin said the remark was “a bridge too far” and Irish politicians should use their heads rather than their hearts.
“The idea that you can go in and bang the table is an approach not grounded in reality,” said the Fianna Fáil leader, who added that the country could not afford “to travel on a wing and a prayer”. He accused the other parties of “conning the people” on issues such as the EU-IMF and the banking crisis.
“Over one-third of what we need to fund schools, hospitals, social welfare and every part of government must either be cut immediately or borrowed from someone. The bravado put on display on this issue by other party leaders in this campaign is cynical, reckless and counter-productive.”
Mr Martin said that Fianna Fáil wanted to improve the terms of the funding and this had now moved to a stage where all EU and euro zone states were fully engaged in the negotiations required to change the structure of the funding facilities.
Significant changes in the way the political system works form a key part of the Fianna Fáil manifesto. As well as proposing a change to a single-seat system of proportional representation, linked to a list system, the party is proposing that ministers should no longer have to continue to serve as constituency TDs but should be replaced by substitutes who would do the constituency work. It is also proposed that cabinet ministers can be appointed from outside the Dáil and Seanad. The plans would require a constitutional referendum.
Mr Martin said that he wanted a parliament which had a direct link with citizens but was focused on national issues; a government which drew on the best expertise in the country and a public service run to the very highest standards.
The other political parties also proposed sweeping political reform yesterday. Fine Gael promised to cut the salary of the taoiseach to €200,000, abolish golden handshakes for ministers, overhaul politicians’ expenses and ban corporate donations. It has already announced plans to abolish the Seanad, cut the number of TDs and reform the Dáil.
The Labour Party proposed a constitutional convention to pave the way for the end of the existing Seanad, curbs on political donations, a register of lobbyists, supervision of appointments to State boards, and a stronger Dáil with a 50 per cent increase in sitting days.
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams also called for the Seanad to be abolished, while Green Party leader John Gormley called for a cut in the number of TDs to 120.