Madam, – Maybe the Government that traded us into this mess is just the one to trade us out of it. Perhaps the Government that consistently mis-read the public finances is just the one to get it right this time.
While this administration remains in power, though, I suspect we have everything to fear, including fear itself. – Yours, etc,
PADDY HAYES,
Na Forbacha,
Co na Gaillimhe.
Madam, – There was really never any chance that this Government was going to oversee the fair distribution of the burden that has been inflicted upon us by a small handful of greed merchants; but was it too much to expect that, within the first phase of the recovery plan, those who live in opulence and great ease might have been asked to make even the most modest of sacrifices?
I mean the likes of those with offshore addresses who skip in and out of their native land to use a loophole that exempts them from contributing – or those who use the myriad of such loopholes to a similiar end. How many who had incomes last year of €1 million or more avoided paying any share, let alone a fair share?
In the very week that this Government decided to push those least able to carry any additional burden into a dangerous waltz with poverty, Mary Harney was merrily opening another private medical centre, no doubt well buoyed up with grants and tax breaks, to bring convenience to the well-to-do. The rest will still have to wait on trolleys or otherwise.
There is no room at this inn for those without ready cash to hand over at the front door, even though they contribute through the back door via their taxes.
And what will phase two bring? A tax on the minimum wage? A cut in basic welfare payments? Whatever is done, the chosen few must be protected. After all, they fund the political establishment, and we couldn’t survive at all without that, could we? – Yours, etc,
JIM O’SULLIVAN,
Rathedmond,
Sligo.
Madam, – What I found most annoying about Tuesday’s Dáil speech by the Taoiseach was that the Government’s 20 junior ministers were all still in place. It’s hard to believe not one of them has resigned or said they will do without their ministerial salary – and extra €54,000 on top of the TD’s salary of €110,000 and the unvouched expenses. And then they have the State car. It is baffling, to say the least.– Yours, etc,
PAUL DORAN,
Monastery Walk,
Clondalkin,
Dublin 22.
Madam, – Unlike Vincent Browne and Sarah Carey (Opinion, February 4th), Mr Cowen and his fellow politicians on both sides of the House are out of touch with the popular mood.
To match what is being asked of others, we need a dramatic gesture from our top political earners. For a start all State cars provided (on questionable security grounds) to ex-presidents, ex-taoisigh and ex-judges could be withdrawn immediately, followed by reductions of 30 per cent or so in their pensions and in those of all former ministers, top judges, leading Army, Garda and Central Bank people.
That would be a start. There could also be reductions for their serving counterparts, and a slashing of the number of junior ministers and the expenses of all ministers (including constituency staffs in ministers’ offices). and so on.
The result might not do that more to reduce the Budget deficit. But, without gestures, what is proposed invites derision for all politicians. It could also spark serious social unrest. – Yours, etc,
JOSEPH F. FOYLE,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.
Madam, – It was with a sinking feeling that, sitting here in Nairobi, Kenya, I read in The Irish Timesof €95 million being slashed from the overseas aid budget. What was the thinking behind such a drastic action? Kenya is experiencing the impact of the global financial crisis and an economic downturn triggered by falls in tourism and exports to Europe. The post-election violence of last year has affected food production and this has been exacerbated by poor rains, resulting in a very poor harvest. The food stores are empty.
The government recently declared a national emergency with over 10 million people at risk of starvation. Over 3 million people living in the slums are seeing the price of basic foods rise way beyond what they can afford to pay. The daily newspapers carry pages of accounts of hardship and starvation. We see it every day in our work. There is no dole or social welfare in Kenya. If you do not earn enough money to feed your family, they starve.
Our hope was that Concern would get funding from Irish Aid to assist some of the most vulnerable to get through this crisis, a crisis not of their making.
I still believe that in today’s Ireland, as the Celtic Tiger is silenced, we continue to hold the values that shaped us as a nation. Those values include support for those who struggle to fight starvation in Kenya and elsewhere. Our representatives should reflect the values of the people who elected them. – Yours, etc,
ANNE O’MAHONY,
Country Director,
Concern Worldwide,
Nairobi,
Kenya.
Madam, – Has “Céad míle fáilte” now become “Naocha cúig milliún slán”? There are few votes in the third world, but are we morally bankrupt too? – Yours, etc,
GREG DORAN,
Wheaton Hall,
Drogheda,
Co Louth.
Madam, – Throughout the boom years teachers, nurses and other public-sector workers were told to be modest and restrained in their pay demands. Now that the long party has ended, on a frosty and snow-covered February day the Taoiseach called upon these same people to make what he termed "a contribution" to cleaning up the damage.
I have an alternative proposal. The euphemistically-named “developers” who benefited from vast tax-breaks, the doctors and lawyers who upped their fees, the big farmers who availed of lavish subsidies, the politicians who awarded themselves very generous pay rises and the bankers who had to be bailed out by the taxpayer should all be similarly “invited” to make a contribution towards cleaning up the mess – which was of their making and not that of public-sector workers. – Yours, etc,
DAVID DOYLE,
Gilford Park,
Sandymount,
Dublin 4.
Madam, — In response to Kathryn Lee’s letter of February 3rd about Eamon Dunphy’s salary, I must ask: What is wrong with earning €320,000 a year? And her mention of nurses and teachers is nonsensical: what revenue do nurses and teachers bring in to their respective workplaces? People get paid in accordance to their financial worth to whatever organisation they work for. Dunphy does not get paid €320,000 because nobody listens to his show or because he brings in no advertising revenue.
Likewise, a top footballer may get paid €80,000 a week, but how much is he making for his club? People, like property, have a market value. The reason nurses and teachers receive less money than “stars” is because they have no market value; they may very well do a more important job, but ultimately they are costing their employers money not making them any, unlike Mr Dunphy and the other “stars”. It’s simple economics. — Yours, etc,
ED POWER,
Grattan Parade,
Drumcondra,
Dublin 9.
Madam, – Oil is too cheap. In Ireland, petrol costs roughly the same or less than milk, depending on where you shop, yet the energy it contains is vastly superior. For example, one litre of oil contains the energy required for one person to work for over 100 hours in agriculture.
An additional tax of €1 per litre would generate approximately €1.05 billion a year. This calculation is based on 1.5 million private cars in Ireland, each travelling 15,000km per year, with an average consumption of 7 litres per 100km, and it takes account of a 33 per cent reduction in usage (by consumers in order to save money) after the tax is announced.
This money could be used in the short term to shore up public finances and in the long term to invest in public transport. The tax is equitable: wealthy owners of big “gas-guzzlers” would pay more as a function of use; middle-income owners of smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles would pay less; people without cars would pay no additional tax.
Those concerned for the environment, rich or poor, could walk, cycle or use public transport where possible and pay no additional tax. The tax would not be applied to public transport vehicles or haulage, so they would remain competitive and have no additional costs to pass on to the consumer. – Yours, etc,
DERMOT FOLEY,
Sarsfield Road,
Inchicore,
Dublin 8.
Madam, – A nurse on €35,000 a year currently pays 6.5 per cent towards a pension. Now the Govenment is to levy another 6.4 per cent, giving a total contribution of 12.9 per cent towards a pension. This is 3.2 per cent more than the CEO of the HSE and 3.5 per cent more than the Minister for Health – if she is included in the scheme – are expected to pay. Where’s the equality?
Of course the nurse cannot collect her pension until she is 65 whereas the minister, I believe, is currently in receipt of a pension on top of her salary. Is there any possibility ministers will agree to forgo their pensions until they are 65, or at least until they retire?
I have a vested interest as I am married to a nurse who currently purchases AVCs to supplement her pension as, being a job-sharer, she will not collect a full pension on retirement.
I am sure nurses, like all public servants, will do their share to help the national finances, but any levy must be equitable. – Yours, etc,
CHRIS CRONIN,
Ardcollum Avenue,
Dublin 5.
Madam, – If it were possible to buy a pension that would almost equate to a public service pension, a self-employed or private sector-worker would have to pay a premium of at least 30 per cent of gross salary. So, when public sector workers claim they are already paying 6.5 per cent towards their pensions, this is only a fraction of the total benefit they will receive. The new levy is going only part of way to making up the difference.
The ESRI has concluded that public-sector salaries are 20 per cent ahead of the private sector, ignoring pension benefits. Are the 83 per cent who work outside the public service expected to continue to carry through taxation the huge cost of public-sector salaries and pensions with, even after the levy, only a small contribution from the ultimate beneficiaries of such pensions? – Yours, etc,
JOE DODDY,
Castleside Drive,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 14.
Madam, – Our economy is a shambles; and the country is in the hands of a Government which quite recently came back from a six-week holiday paid for by taxpayers’ money. Brian Cowen was never voted into being Taoiseach by a general election. Instead he was voted in by his own party. I have lost all faith in the Government and all respect for it. Wouldn’t it be better to have another general election and give Ireland another chance? — Yours, etc,
RUPERT TAUCHER,
Carysfort Grove,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.