Madam, – While there is valid concern with the tough and somewhat unpalatable measures in the EU-IMF documents released on Wednesday, there is also the high point that there is going to be strong supervision of the Irish Government, and its progress out of the current situation.
Weekly and quarterly reviews by independent expert bodies should be welcomed, given the fact that the electorate can only provide a review every 16-20 quarters. I don’t see this as a loss of sovereignty, but more as a period of mentoring by professionals, to help current and future governments. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I note from Dr Carol Coulter’s article (Home News, December 1st) that IMF negotiators avoid using binding or contractual language in recording arrangements such as our recent “bailout” and that they believe that this, together with the intention of not enforcing such arrangements by legal process avoids their being classified as “international agreements” within the meaning of our Constitution.
However, our Supreme Court has laid down that the Constitution is not to be parsed as though it was an Act of the Oireachtas but interpreted widely, not restrictively, and so as to give plain words their plain meaning. To hold that the “bailout” is not an international agreement within the meaning of our Constitution would be inconsistent with long-established rules on its interpretation.
If so, it seems a powerful lever was available to those who negotiated the bailout on our behalf. If the Constitution required the bailout to be approved by the Dáil then, given Dáil arithmetic, it could not become valid without the assent of Messrs Healy-Rae and Lowry. So, if the negotiators on the other side wanted an agreement in a hurry – as they clearly did – they would have to offer terms those two legislators would accept. It is clear that lever was not used. Surely citizens are entitled to ask why not? – Yours,etc,
MICHAEL WILLIAMS,
Grosvenor Square,
Dublin 6.
Madam, – The report from the Central Bank that banks have not taken any significant steps to reduce pay is hard to take in light of the introduction by the Minister for Finance of the Memorandum of Understanding to the Dáil. That, allied with the smiling pictures of Dermot Ahern looking forward to his €350,000 payout next year sticks in the craw when seen alongside the news that the lowest paid in our society (only 3 per cent of the workforce) will have to take a pay cut of 11 per cent in order to make the economy “more competitive” and open the path to the phoney justification of social welfare reductions. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – It is refreshing to see that even in the current economic climate the Nimby (not in my back yard) mentality is alive and well. The lobby groups Older and Bolder as well as Age Action Ireland are angry over the promised “freezing” of the state pension.
This, at a time when the young people of Ireland are being crippled by negative equity and cuts in minimum wage while many are facing emigration. We are also told that we will be able to look forward to repaying the cost of the bailout over several decades.
I feel the pensioners should be very grateful for what they have and the Government’s promise to freeze it. This Government has already created envy for private sector workers compared to public sector, let’s not have an old versus young divide also. – Yours, etc,