Madam, – Given the results of the recent Irish Times/TNS mrbi poll, is it now time to consider nationalising Fianna Fáil?
Its share value has plummeted to a record low and there is a possibility of it falling further. It seems completely over-extended as a party, having issued far more promissory notes than it is able to repay. It has engaged in reckless trading, continually selling the electorate short, with its directors seemingly thinking that conflict-of-interest legislation is for others and not them.
I suggest that a “bad party” be created immediately out of what is left of Fianna Fáil. All the broken promises and toxic, unethical practices (not forgetting all the hyperbole) from all the other parties should be deposited there. This could pave the way for a realigning of our political system involving “clean” parties.
British Nuclear Fuels could be contracted to store these practices in Sellafield, given that we may have no idea of even the half-life of these toxic substances. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – In this time of economic woe when we all need to be pulling together, it is disheartening that the best the Opposition parties can do is lob scorn on the Government’s efforts to balance the public finances.
Whether the Government is making a good fist of it or not is another matter. The important point is, if the Opposition parties were seriously concerned about the state of the public finances and the jobs being lost throughout the economy they would be playing a more positive role. Their current course of action does not serve the public interest, either nationally or internationally, and it could make the cost of Government borrowing more expensive. They are certainly not promoting confidence in this country’s ability to climb out of the mess. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The overwhelming majority of those responsible for this fine mess we now find ourselves in – the property developers, speculators, banking executives, board members, traders, etc — have one thing in common. They are men.
Call me crazy, but Joan Burton for Taoiseach, anyone? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – If the Bank of Ireland wishes to make amends, rather than issuing rote apologies copied from the UK or US, perhaps they would consider returning Grattan’s Parliament.
The superb House of Parliament and the House of Lords which are now their branch office on College Green, when returned to public ownership, could house the art collections of Ireland’s entrepreneurial class – donated in lieu of otherwise uncollectable tax. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The easiest way to name the 10 members of the “golden circle” is for the fraud squad to arrest them under suspicion of illegally supporting the share price of Anglo Irish Bank.
The case is almost identical to that of Ernest Saunders, who was found guilty in 1990 of facilitating the illegal support of the Guinness share price and was imprisoned. But that was the UK, of course; here we seem to be a lot more forgiving. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The media seem to have accepted rather uncritically the Government’s description of its new arrangements for civil and public servants as a “pension levy”. My understanding is that the money raised will be placed into the general Government revenue and not into the appropriate pension funds, and therefore does nothing to address whatever problems may exist in long-term public pension-funding.
May I suggest, therefore, that labelling this arrangement as a “pension levy” is, at the very least, disingenuous, and that the media adopt a more appropriate label: the “special tax on the public service”, perhaps. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I wish to correct an inaccurate and unfair portrayal of the role of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission in your Editorial of February 18th. Contrary to your assertion, since its establishment in 2004 the commission has been proactive in the administrative reform of the support services necessary to meet the increasing demands of a modern parliament.
Firstly, your readers should note that the commission has no role in the conduct of parliamentary investigations or the resolution of the constitutional and legislative issues associated with the fall-out of the Abbeylara inquiry. The commission is a service agency, not a committee to manage parliamentary business.
Separately, last month the commission proposed that we move from a complex multi-allowance system to an all-in single payment system.This proposal also featured attendance recording for Members and deductions for non-attendance.
Following a request from the Minister for Finance, the Commission added the following recommendations for reducing costs by proposing the following actions: abolish the special secretarial allowance for Ministers; reduce the daily allowance paid to Dublin members; reduce the number of Oireachtas committees; cut the free postage allowance paid to members; decrease the mileage rates payable to members.
The crucial fact is that these are, and can only be, recommendations. It is the sole statutory responsibility of the Minister of Finance to make the final decision on implementing the proposals.
The effect of the above recommendations will be significant and indicate a further willingness on the part of members of the Oireachtas to show leadership in these difficult times. The proposals will save up to €4 million, in addition to the €21 million in savings to which the Commission is already committed. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I feel I must write in response to Peter O’Shea’s letter of February 17th, in which he compared civil and public servants with former employees of Dell, Waterford Crystal, etc. A couple of points need to be made to correct some of his assumptions.
Firstly, I am a public servant working for a state agency. I have worked here for over 10 years and am lucky enough to have a long-term contract and a pension. However, many of my colleagues are not in the same position. Perhaps 20 per cent of those I work with are on short, single-purpose contracts. These people have no job security. When the contract ends, they will be out of a job. This has already happened to many of my co-workers, as projects are cut back or terminated.
Secondly, many of my colleagues do not have a pension, particularly younger, lower-paid staff. Others have a private pension, in no way funded by the public service pension scheme. Despite this, they will still be hit by the so-called “pensions levy”. For them and many, many others, this is not a levy, it is simply a pay cut.
As one of the so-called “privileged” public servants, I accept that sacrifices must be made. However to label all public servants as such, including the many who will soon be just as unemployed as those unfortunately laid off in the private sector, is an insult. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Once upon a time, Ireland was called “The Island of Saints and Scholars”. The way things are going, it won’t be long before it’s known as “The Island of Sins and Squalor”. – Yours, etc,