Finally, after a great deal of huffing, puffing and shape-throwing, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has settled on a date for the general election and will seek a dissolution of the Dáil later today. The process, which began last October, has induced an element of fatigue among voters who have remained largely unmoved by the pre-election promises of competing parties. That may change in the coming weeks as detailed party manifestos are published and issues relating to taxation and public spending are debated.
There are worrying signs that politicians are repeating the mistakes of the past while hoping for a different outcome. Proposals that would narrow the tax base or provide instant voter gratification have become so ubiquitous that President Michael D Higgins – in a highly unusual intervention – questioned the impact this may have on the development of a "decent society". At the heart of this race-to-the-bottom is the concept of a "fiscal space"; a notional financial windfall that is being spent in advance through promised tax cuts and public spending programmes. The fiscal space has been estimated by the Fiscal Advisory Council at €3.2 billion and by Fine Gael and the Labour Party at €12billion. Hubris threatens.
In an uncertain international economic climate and on the basis of those figures, great caution is required. Voters should recognise there is no such thing as a free lunch. Concessions will have to be funded. If a promise appears too good to be true, it probably is. As political parties and Independent candidates gather at the election starting gate, voters should step outside of their comfort zones and consider two questions: will concessions on offer improve the quality of community life during the next five years and what combination of interests are likely to deliver such benefits?
Few would challenge the Coalition Government’s positive record on reviving the economy and creating jobs. But the effects of recession are still working their way through communities and business life. The national debt remains a huge burden and family finances are stretched.
A degree of fiscal caution rather than profligacy is required. Gripped by election fever, however, political parties and Independent candidates are in denial. The same pro-cyclical approach that wrecked the economy a decade ago is apparent. Offers include the removal of property and water charges; reductions or abolition of the Universal Social Charge; housing and childcare concessions, along with increases in wages and public spending commitments. Those elements challenge prudent fiscal management and threaten a just society backed by meaningful policies.
During the Celtic Tiger years, when wealth reared up like a wave and individuals grew extremely rich, a former German Ambassador remarked on a “coarsening” in the quality of Irish life. Do we wish to revisit those times?