Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

Voting to give them power to implement cuts, while continuing to say the campaign against Tory cuts must continue, is not a very effective way of stopping them. The £585 million supposedly to mitigate the worst effects of welfare reform is less than the previous amount agreed, while there are more welfare cuts than previously agreed. The £585 million is not new money but will come from cuts to other public services, and the effect of welfare reform on the poorest in Northern Ireland will be devastating. Reports in Britain show a rise in homelessness, child poverty, mental health problems and even suicide rates among claimants.

The agreement reaffirms that the Northern Ireland Assembly will borrow £700 million to introduce an estimated 20,000 job losses in the civil service through the voluntary exit scheme, which will have a devastating impact on the Northern economy. Whether they are lost through voluntary or compulsory redundancies, the jobs are no longer there for young people leaving education in a context where the private sector is particularly weak. The new agreement warns of challenging cost reductions for all departments and a commitment to "structural reform in the big spending areas of education, health and justice". What does this remind people of? It is the language of the troika, not of those who oppose austerity. "Structural reform" in health is the threat to close mental health day care centres, residential homes and even the threat of closure that lies over the accident and emergency department at the Mater Infirmorum Hospital in Belfast.

Austerity is a political choice to make the unemployed and workers rather than the super-rich pay for a crisis they did not cause. The choice has been made primarily by the Tories in Westminster but also, in the next round, by the DUP and Sinn Féin. Parties cannot credibly claim to stand against austerity in the South while implementing austerity on this island. It has not worked for the Labour Party in the South and it will not work for Sinn Féin in the North. Those who support Sinn Féin and who are overwhelmingly opposed to austerity should ask Sinn Féin how it will be different in the South if, for example, Sinn Féin is in a coalition with Fianna Fáil and the Labour Party and the EU seeks cuts. Added to all this austerity is the incredible reference to the reduction in corporation tax, which is there for a reason and which will cost £300 million per year. This is not a fresh start for young people, workers or the unemployed. More austerity, perpetuating sectarianism and more tax cuts for the rich is not a fresh start.

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