Madam, – I think it a little more than ironic that Fine Gael has urged High Court Judges to work an extra month during the summer vacation (April 1st) in order to save millions. Perhaps Fine Gael politicians should lead by example and take the “patriotic” step towards taking a shorter summer vacation themselves this year. Indeed it would show some civic duty for the salary which they so kindly receive from taxpayers’ money. I am sure there are a number of backlog issues which the party could then also resolve during this extra time. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – It is with some amusement that I read of Ireland’s credit downgrade by Standard & Poor’s. This is the same rating agency that did not predict the failure of the Icelandic banks and consistently rated numerous sub-prime collateralised debt obligations as AAA (For instance, there were losses of $125 million on $340.7 million worth of collateralised debt obligations (CDO) issued by Credit Suisse Group despite being rated AAA by Standard Poor’s). With such a stellar prediction performance the downgrade is probably good news for Ireland Inc.
In fact, that credit rating agencies continue to operate and still have any credibility is probably more indicative of the accommodating ethical standards and incestuous relationships that exist between large players in global capital markets. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Brian Cowen, in his recent half-hearted apology, asserted that he took the best available advice as Minister of Finance. Whoever he listened to, they were obviously of the “soft-landing” school of thought. Their advice seems to have had a catastrophic effect on the economy. Until the penny drops and he recognises what is obvious to the rest of us, ie, that, on the contrary, he listened to the worst possible available advice, then we must assume he will continue to listen to those same sages. It looks like next week’s budget will be framed in consultation with these same people, whoever they are.
God help us all. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – May I make a suggestion regarding the forthcoming budget?
Cap the National Lottery prize at €1 million and donate all the proceeds to hospitals and health-related matters. At the same time, tackle the compensation culture, and give doctors a chance to carry out their duties without fear of being sued for all their belongings. – Y ours, etc,
Madam, – A common cliché of the recession has been that those who got us into this mess should be made to pay for it. This usually means developers, bankers, politicians etc. But this leaves a gaping hole in our notion of democratic “accountability”: what of the silent majority who have been voting the same scoundrels into power for decades? They’ve been hiding behind their secret ballot, with the rest of us paying for their reckless abuse of franchise.
I propose keeping a secure database of voters’ preferences. In instances where a fiscal deficit can be reasonably linked to a ruling party’s poor governance, employees around the country might find their payslips marked with a “Fianna Fáil 1997 to present levy”; parts of the Waterford workforce could be hit with a “Cullen/e-voting deduction”; while those backing independents in power would face a “flagrant clientelism surcharge” to cover the costs of bypasses and other pork barrelling.
The plan would doubtlessly need a raft of amendments, checks and balances to keep it from the wrong hands, but I trust it would be the perfect tonic to invigorate our lazy and complacent electorate. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Thanks to a loophole found in taxation legislation brought in by a previous Fianna Fáil administration, millions of euro may have been lost to the State in unpaid capital gains tax (CGT). I suppose the beneficiaries could return it, but they might feel it would be a bit pointless as it probably wouldn’t do much more than pay the expenses (unvouched) of our current TDs, junior Ministers and Cabinet office-holders for more than a month or two. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – We constantly hear of “value for money” vis-a-vis our public representatives, especially our TDs. Why not then implement the following reforms?
1. Abolish multi-member constituencies and revert to the pre-1923 system of single-member constituencies. The 1937 Constitution lays down guidelines for how many people should be represented by one TD, why not implement these stringently? This would automatically reduce the numbers of TDs.
2. Restructure local government and empower county councils to collect rates. This would achieve a number of things, not least the resolution of local issues locally. In larger counties, eg Cork, perhaps a division into two or three representative bodies would be appropriate.
These reforms would, at a stroke, take away the “messenger boy” functions that TDs provide (to a great degree), as well as freeing up more time for them to legislate at national level. One of the many issues prospective local representatives raise is the almost continuous travelling and lack of time for real debate on serious issues, for example, the current fiscal crisis. At a local level, people would perhaps be more willing to pay rates — as part of a restructured tax system — if they could see the benefits of their sacrifices in more efficient local services. There would then also be a structured hierarchy of power, from local to regional to national. Finally, it would be easier for political parties to structure their organisational bases, thus making it easier for the cream to rise to the top. – Yours etc,
Madam, – I have the solution to all of Europe’s problems: create a “Bad Member State”, where we can dump all of Europe’s toxic politics. There we could send all our bad politicians – the corrupt, the populist, the jingoistic, and the chronically incompetent.
The Bad Member State could also house unruly electorates that repeatedly vote for the said politicians at elections, and irrelevant red-herrings at referendums.
This would free up everyone else to get on with things.
Obviously, the country that exhibits the most toxic politics should be chosen as the Bad Member.
Now, who could that be, I wonder? – Yours etc,