As the general election draws ever closer it is clear that the Labour Party are under pressure.
Desperate to deflect attention away from the negative impact of their decisions on ordinary people they have turned misrepresentation into a new art form.
One thing is clear from the Governments much hyped Spring Statement – they have learned nothing from the mistakes of the past.
Spring is in the air, the season of rebirth and rejuvenation. Michael Noonan is hoping that this week’s statement will generate a little spring like renewal in the fortunes of the Government parties as they set their sights on the general election.
Finance officials are busy downplaying the prospect of any detail in the Ministers address. But at the very least we will get a sense of the Governments economic and fiscal intentions for Budget 2016.
Have you ever heard of the expenditure benchmark? Do you know how to calculate a structural deficit? Can you explain the interaction between the debt and deficit rules?
If the answer to these questions is no, don’t worry. You are obviously a well-grounded person with a good work life balance.
If the answer is yes, well you clearly need to get out more.
Fine Gael and Labour’s economic recovery is a tale of two Ireland’s.
GDP is rising. Bond yields are falling. Property prices are recovering. Jobs are being created. People are even buying new cars.
According to Michael Noonan ‘austerity as we know it is over.’
The politics and economics of austerity have failed to deliver a fair recovery. However anger or apathy are not the way forward. Opposition to unjust taxes and demands for increased public spending were never enough. We need to promote our workable alternatives to fiscal waterboarding Irish style.
Like Robin Hood in reverse, Fine Gael take from the poor and give to the rich. To be more precise they take from low and middle income earners and give to the top 10%.
They are ably helped by their very own Friar Tuck but again in reverse. Labour are the jovial mendicant’s alter ego, slavishly bending to the authority of Frankfurt and Brussels.
The Government says that it is in listening mode. Judging by Minister Kelly’s Water Charges announcement on November 19th they certainly seem to have a hearing problem.
Hundreds of thousands of people did not march for a temporary reduction in the water charges. They did not march for a €100 bribe. And they certainly didn’t march for draconian powers to enforce payment.
Our message is very simple. These charges are unjust and unfair and must be scraped.
The era of austerity is not yet over but its high watermark has now passed. From here on in budgets will be less painful and less contentious.
That does not mean that there will be no more hardship. The deficit may be on track to meet its EU targets but the debt-to-GDP ratio is still way off course. Debt servicing will continue to absorb what little excess revenue the state has for some time to come.
But the Governments narrative is changing. The hard decisions are now behind us. Fiscal restraint has had the desired effect. Growth –job and GDP- is returning to the economy. We have finally turned the corner.
Eamon Gilmore’s address to the Labour party conference last month was strong on rhetoric but short on specifics.
With the local and European elections only months away the Labour leader seemed reluctant to make any big commitments.
But old habits die hard and Gilmore just had to promise something.
ANOTHER VIEW 