GROUPS THAT shout loudest in this State tend to do well when budgetary decisions are taken. Because of that, our society has a poor international rating in terms of equality. If that is to change, a more open and transparent system of decision-making is required and opposition parties should be fully involved. Ireland’s lack of fiscal independence was cruelly exposed last week and, in such circumstances, it makes little sense to persevere with archaic budgetary procedures. Where the broad outline of the next two budgets is already known, what is to be gained from traditional secrecy concerning the finer detail? Better that these issues should be teased out through extended public debate.
There has been some discussion on the €700 million savings that will be required at the Department of Social Protection. It has, unfortunately, taken the form of traditional kite-flying where the public’s reaction and media coverage is likely to decide the issue. Initially it was suggested that employers would be made responsible for paying the first four weeks of sick pay to their staff and, when the furore over possible job losses died down, the possibility of cutting child benefit was raised.
That is no way of doing business in a modern society. Such options should be placed before an all-party Oireachtas committee for discussion before final decisions are taken at Cabinet. That is what happens in other EU states. The tyranny of the whip system should also be relaxed so that elected representatives can vote according to their personal values.
Tensions between coalition parties are nothing new, especially in relation to pre-election commitments. Fine Gael and Labour Party TDs find themselves responding to different priorities concerning job creation and child poverty. The two issues are deeply intertwined but the limited nature of public debate disguises that fact. It would be more productive to debate such matters in the Dáil before, rather than after, the Budget. Both parties should also acknowledge that promises were based on expected savings from their commitments to “burn the bondholders” and on economic growth that has not materialised. Fine Gael has lost one TD over hospital facilities while a decision to close an Army barracks brought the resignation of a Labour Party junior minister. Such dismissals and defections are likely to increase in the months ahead.
As the Government parties struggle to accommodate their differences, a life-or-death struggle is developing on the Opposition benches, where Sinn Féin continues to undermine Fianna Fáil. In contrast to that party’s four-year recovery plan, Sinn Féin’s pre-budget submission ignored the State’s fiscal dependency and offered to create jobs and improve living standards for all those earning less than €70,000. Rather than engage on those grounds, Micheál Martin stressed Fianna Fáil’s republican credentials and accused Sinn Féin of supporting a campaign of senseless murder and of belatedly accepting constitutional republicanism. The contestants are only warming up.