It’s time for politicians drunk on power to sober up

First it was Taoiseach Brian Cowen’s performance on RTE radio - was he hoarse or hungover? Then a Fine Gael TD, the worse for wear, threatening a young Garda- using the ‘mind your manners we’ll be in power soon’ line. The ‘demon drink’ has been front and centre in political debate. As a man in Ballybough put it  ‘what in the name of jaysus are they at?’ Good question.

Almost half a million people are unemployed. In Dublin one in eight people are jobless. The state is struggling to borrow money, at very high interest rates, to keep the show on the road. Huge cutbacks have been introduced and there’s more to come in the December budget.  We are in big trouble.

The government is in the land of make believe, fingers crossed, wishing all of this would go away. It won’t. This crisis is for real and it needs to be faced up to.

No amount of government spoof or spin can hide the fact that they have chosen bankers over citizens. Allowing Anglo Irish to suck the life out of the economy, cripple services and force the state to borrow at sky high rates is madness.

Citizens are on the receiving end of a very bad deal. The government has no mandate for this madness. They were elected in 2007 on the promise that the ‘good times’ would keep on rolling – on a ‘trust us we know what we’re doing’, message. It is now clear that they were not to be trusted. Having made a hash of the boom time this crowd are now leading the way to ruin.

So where do we go from here? To begin with we need to see the back of Anglo Irish bank. It needs to be wound down and its toxic debt taken off the state’s balance sheet.  We need to stop hacking away with cutback after cutback to services and welfare payments. Sucking billions from the economy year after year will cause huge hardship and wreck our chance of economic recovery.  We need a plan for jobs. This is the absolute priority.

If you listen to many ‘opposition’ politicians you’ll notice that they are heavy on condemning the government but very light on offering alternatives. Listen carefully and you’ll hear them say that they’ll do the same things - only differently.  Figure that one out!

Sinn Féin is the only party that has not signed up for billions of cuts each year until 2014. We were the first and most consistent in bringing forward ideas to protect and create jobs. We’ve argued for years – when it wasn’t fashionable – for a state bank, run for the benefit of families and enterprise and not to line the pockets of the fat cats.

This year once again we will make a detailed, costed, pre-budget submission. We’ll argue for fairness, for jobs and services. We won’t run away from the tough questions – on how to raise money, on how to gain efficiencies, on fair taxation.

The crisis is real and gombeen, stroke politics is huge part of the problem. It’s time for those politicians drunk on power to sober up, to shape up. It’s time for the people to have their say.

This article is reproduced in An Phoblacht where Mary Lou McDonald has a regular column in the monthly publication. To subscribe just log on to www.anphoblacht.com

Europe Makes Its Move On Corporation Tax: Quelle Surprise!!!

I rubbed my eyes is disbelief when I read that the EU Commissions is ploughing ahead with the introduction of a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) for member states - well not really!  I did curse though. The government, Fine Gael, Labour, IBEC, the ‘great and good’ swore blind during both Lisbon Treaty debates that an EU consolidated corporate tax base would never happen. So much for their word. It is happening now.

For those of us who campaigned against giving more powers to Europe there’s no surprise in this. When I raised this very issue at the EU Affairs Oireachtas Committee I was told - point blank – that I was wrong. When French Economics Minister Christine Lagarde publically stated in advance of the first Lisbon Treaty referendum that France would push for a CCCTB during its 2008 EU Presidency Eamon Gilmore described her comments as ‘arrogant and patronising’. Well, after all the hot air, the score stands Lagarde - 1, Gilmore – 0.

The truth, for those grown-up enough to calmly discuss the issue, is that the Commission has been working on the introduction of a CCCTB since 2001. The EU has to varying degrees already consolidated economic, social and monetary policies, so taxation is just a further step towards deeper integration of member states.

EU Tax Commissioner Algirdas Semeta, anticipating any resistance to his plans, has stated that if member states do not sign up a CCCTB he is prepared to invoke an enhanced co-operation procedure. In other words, the Commission will push this issue and no veto will stand in their way. The much-lauded Lisbon ‘guarantee’ on corporation tax won’t protect this state from the consequences of the CCTB. 

Those advocating a common corporate tax base say it is not the rate that will be harmonised; but how the tax is calculated. A case of ‘you say tomatoes and I say tomatoes’ if you ask me. 

The EU has Ireland over a barrel. The country is broke, billions are being lost to Anglo’s black hole and the ECB is the only taker when it comes to Irish bonds. The bigger member states are eager to finalise a CCCTB for Europe and Ireland cannot stop them.

Government, Fine Gael and Labour politicians were talking through their hats on this issue. The Lisbon jobs never materialized either – more on that from me soon.

There is an alternative to this rotten government

Each year Sinn Féin presents to government the party’s pre-Budget submission. As Ireland’s fortunes have changed significantly over the last two years December’s budget has become an important day of the year, particularly for the least well off in our society as they face cuts in critical supports and services and the double whammy of an increase in inequitable stealth taxes.

Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats’ right wing agenda coupled with their fiscal recklessness during Ireland’s boom years hardened the collapse of our economy. The Green’s have compounded the states public finance deficit and double-digit unemployment figures by signing off on Fianna Fáil’s golden circle policy approach. Or maybe they have just found their political home in a Fianna Fáil led government!

Fianna Fáil was so beholden to those within it golden circle it decided to nationalise the worst bank in the history of the state. Anglo Irish Bank has cost the Irish people 22 billion euro to date with rating agency Standard Poor’s recently estimating that the total cost of bailing out the bank will rise to 35 billion euro.

But it is not enough for those of us in political opposition to bemoan the horrific failings of this government; we need to present our political and fiscal alternatives to the people. And that is what we in Sinn Fein have done each year with a particular focus on job creation since the collapse of the economy in 2008. We are currently working on our Budget 2011 submission, which will be published and submitted to government in advance of budget day on December 7th.

Click on the below links to download Sinn Féin Job Creation strategy document and our 2010 Budget submission to government. In these document’s you will find sensible viable alternatives to the government’s budget decisions including a range of tax revenue measures and proposals to address wasteful spending of public monies.

Sinn Féin Job Creation and Retentions Strategy

Sinn Féin pre Budget Submission 2010

Underground DART Project - My submission to An Bord Pleanála

It's all about the Big 3 C's - Consultation, Consideration & Commonsense...

Last week I presented a submission to An Bord Pleanála outlining my concerns regarding the impact of the underground DART project on the East Wall, North Wall and Docklands Communities.

Click here to download my submission 
 
Improvements to the public transport infrastructure for Dublin and beyond are overdue and welcome. The DART Underground project is ambitious, representing a huge investment by the state to improve the connectivity and capacity of the public transport system.

My submission has focused primarily on the Eastern portal- Docklands section of the project, though some of the commentary is of relevance to the overall project and in particular those residential areas that will be impacted by the project.

The Railway Order application envisages that all works would be completed within a ten year timeframe. The scale of the construction works and the timeframe envisaged offer an indication of how intrusive this project will be on the lives of residents.

My submission details the primary concern's of local residents and their families. The suggestions and considerations contained within are reasonable and based on common sense. Dubliner's have historically been treated badly during major development projects and much of their daily hardship during these big build's could have been avoided with proper consultation and consideration prior to works beginning.

Have a read of my submission and if you have any additional points of concern please drop me a mail to marylou@sinnfein.ie.