Sir, – Reading "Ireland risks wasting its chance for a radical new approach to care systems" (Opinion & Analysis, September 4th) gave some respite from the woes of these Covid-19 times, given the wholesome sentiments expressed regarding taking care of our children and our elderly. Indeed, why would any decent society not have in place the necessary structures to ensure that our young and older folk are properly cared for as a matter of course.
However, the warm glow soon dissipates when the reader is informed that the author, Senator Ivana Bacik, is a member of the Labour Party. In its most recent stint in government, it pursued policies on this, and other issues, that were at utter variance to what the article proposes.
It seems that what we were being treated to here is Labour’s “Home” manifesto – the one that is doled out when the party is in Opposition. When in power, it very quickly adopt its “Away” manifesto, which essentially amounts to doing whatever its coalition partners demand of it. – Yours, etc,
JIM O’SULLIVAN,
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Rathedmond,
Sligo.
Sir, – Ivana Bacik writes that “our society is only ever as strong as its weakest link”. She is right. Childcare provision is Ireland’s weakest link, and a major stumbling block towards a more equal, fair society. Childcare expenses impact some members of our society disproportionately more than other, especially working-class families and women. The prohibitive cost of childcare is one reason why more women in Ireland work in part-time jobs compared to men, a fact that contributes to many other ramifications of gender inequality across our society. The present childcare system is one of the most obvious and deplorable sources of structural injustice and inequality in Ireland today. – Yours, etc,
Dr VITTORIO BUFACCHI,
Department of Philosophy,
University College Cork.