Dáil debates

Thursday, 5 February 2009

Stabilisation of the Public Finances: Motion (Resumed)

 

12:00 pm

Photo of Paul GogartyPaul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)

There is little good news to speak about. I welcome that my Green Party colleagues and I played a part in securing additional funding for schools, home insulation and projects that will create jobs. I am happy overseas aid was not cut by as much as it could have been and the fact that a little humanity was shown in that mathematically viable cuts — such as abolishing the social welfare and pension Christmas bonus — did not materialise in the end, thank God.

This is bad news and nobody should be happy about it. At best we should be relieved that the cuts announced in the national interest have helped stabilise what is left of our international financial standing. We might be in a position, for the time being, to continue borrowing, paying people's salaries, stimulating job recovery and allowing banks to lend to help that recovery, no matter what we think of the banks.

The majority of the cutbacks come from an increased contribution from the public sector. There has been a nasty campaign in some quarters to vilify public service workers who have provided this country with great service over the years. However, the fundamental truth is the public sector must take on the same burden as the private sector. I have spoken to many people in the private sector who have been deeply affected — I have a friend who was let go; my cousin, a barman, has had to take a 10% pay cut; and my friend's dad, who is 30 years in a company, has had to take a 15% pay cut. I have heard of 25% pay cuts. It is really bad in the private sector.

The boss of the public sector, the Government, is now indicating that those employed must take a pay cut. From speaking to constituents in the public sector, they feel the cuts are unfair. They are graded towards making the higher-paid pay more but some feel it unfair because ordinary public service workers and private workers feel that fat cats, bankers, developers and the political decision makers have not taken their fair share of the burden. If they caused the mess, why are they not paying for it?

The trouble is that those who messed up no longer have the money so we must pay for their greed and, to a lesser extent, our own greed as a nation. I hope those who caused this get their comeuppance and I hope history and the electorate will judge those who made the political decisions which caused our decline to be worse than the global norm. I will welcome the day when those who showed more favour to the political donors and vested interests than to the citizens in their care are told, in no uncertain terms, where to go. However, today is not that day. Now is not the time for apportioning blame because, like it or not, stability is required. There is a job to be done, in the national interest, for all of our citizens. We must make tough and unpopular decisions because we know that if do not do so, matters would be far worse.

It is incumbent on us, as civic leaders, to lead by example. I welcome the fact that Oireachtas Members will be cutting back on expenses. I also welcome the political forum to which the Ministers for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Finance, Deputies John Gormley and Brian Lenihan, referred. However, there is also a need for real movement on corporate donations. It is not good enough for politicians from all parties to accept donations from developers, bankers and trade unions. The people who need a dig-out are ordinary citizens, not those in the body politic. Let us lead by example.

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