Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)

Mar aon leis na Seanadóirí eile, ba mhaith liom míle fáilte a chur roimh an Bille seo ón Seanadóir de Bairéad. Tuigim an méid oibre a chuaigh isteach ann, ach caithfidh mé a rá ón tús nach bhfuilimid ar an bhfealsúnacht céanna maidir leis an Bille seo. Ní bheidh muid ag tacú leis an Bille, ach i gcomhthéacs na díospóireachta, má tá an Bille seo le fágáil oscailte le plé ar Chéim an Choiste, is fiú an díospóireacht a fhágáil oscailte. Dá bhrí sin, má thagann sé go dtí vóta, bheadh muid ag claonadh leis an deis a thabhairt tuilleadh plé a dhéanamh.

So-called fiscal responsibility and the call for more rigid controls over structural deficits are all the rage these days. It was the logic that informed Dr. Colm McCarthy's slash and burn an bord snip report in 2009. It was also the logic used by Fianna Fáil in its four year plan for so-called national recovery in 2010, the aim of which was to reach a structural deficit of 3% of GDP by 2014. It was the same logic that drove the EU-IMF austerity programme which, building on Fianna Fáil's ill-fated policy, sought to reach the same target by 2015. It is the same logic that underlines the Fine Gael-Labour Party budget for 2012 which, in keeping with their Fianna Fáil and EU-IMF mentors, seeks to reduce the structural deficit from 10% of GDP this year to 8.6% in 2012 and 3% in 2015.

The argument made is very simple: we are living beyond our means and falling tax revenues and rising expenditure are fuelling a debt and deficit crisis that must be brought under control. The solution proposed is equally simple: bring spending into line with revenue through cuts to public sector pay and front-line services and increases in taxes and charges. The analogy of the household budget is the most often quoted simplification. Unfortunately, as the argument goes, politicians cannot be trusted to make the right economic policy decisions. In pursuit of electoral advantage from voters or sectional interests, they become weak and make bad decisions.