I am regularly contacted by constituents affected by unemployment who need information on education and training opportunities, social welfare entitlements, and other information related to coping with the recession. To address these matters I have arranged a public information seminar on unemployment issues.

Lucinda

Participants:

Friday April 23rd, 2010

Deputy Lucinda Creighton T.D. today rubbished John Gormley’s proposals for a Mayor of Dublin and said it would be a waste of resources unless real local government reform was planned. Speaking at a business lunch in the Four Seasons Hotel, Ballsbridge, she called for the abolition of the four Dublin local authorities, the creation of a single Dublin Regional Assembly, a reduction in the number of Councillors by 50% and the introduction of local rates so as to finance local government in the Dublin region.

Pointing to the 100% rise in unemployment in Dublin in a 2-year period, Deputy Creighton said:

“Governance in the Dublin region, as in the rest of the country, is weak, ill-defined and rife with duplication. There are four local authorities in the region – Dublin City Council, South Dublin County Council, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and Fingal County Council. They employ a whopping 10,000 staff between them and command a budget of 2.5 billion. Each of these Councils has a city or county manager directing them, in whom the bulk of Executive powers are vested. While there is no shortage of bureaucrats running the city, they are not answerable to anyone.

“And what is the Government’s response to this? The Minister for Environment proposes to add yet another layer of bureaucracy, a new Mayor, causing further waste, with no accountability.

“A new office of Mayor of Dublin should only happen if the Government is brave enough to abolish the existing four local authorities and introduce a directly elected Regional Assembly with fewer Councillors. How is it that we in Dublin with a total population of 1.5 million, have four Councils and 130 Councillors? In contrast the city of New York has a population of 8.3 million people and a total of 52 City Councillors!

“A Mayor of Dublin, presiding over a strengthened and emboldened Dublin Authority, with half the number of Councillors, would require real powers. The mayor and the new authority will also require revenue raising powers, which may ultimately mean the introduction of local taxation, not an unjust property tax, but a form of local rates. This may be politically unpopular, but would amount to a courageous and necessary step in achieving the type of services and infrastructure we need in Dublin. We must restart the economic engine of this country, its capital city. For Dublin to recover, real reform is essential“

I am pleased to have an opportunity to speak on this important legislation, namely, the Central Bank Reform Bill 2010. Clearly, this legislation is badly needed and were one to comb the nation’s highways and byways, it would be difficult to find anyone who does not share the view that our banking and financial systems, and probably our political system, are in dire need of reform. Consequently, this Bill constitutes an important first step. I believe the public is disillusioned and distrustful and is utterly dubious about all financial and regulatory institutions within this State and consequently, reform is badly needed. A robust, credible and rigorous system must be developed that will prevent any recurrence of the type of Russian roulette-style banking and financial practices that literally have brought this country to its knees. While a new system of regulation undoubtedly is required, the question is whether the legislation proposed by the Government is the solution and this requires some consideration.

Objectively, it is highly difficult to place one’s faith and confidence in any system proposed by a Government that itself is utterly discredited. (more…)

On Tuesday Government and Unions negotiated a new public sector pay agreement, dealing with the employment conditions of public sector workers. The deal covers all the main sectors in the public service including Health, Education, Justice, the Civil Service and State Agencies up to 2014. This is a milestone in Irish public policy as it was negotiated outside of the social partnership regime.

The Death of Social Partnership

This means that social partnership has finally run its course and is no longer the preferred method of negotiating pay and conditions in either the public or private sector. As the national finances have collapsed, social partnership is no longer a sustainable model for deciding the levels of pay of public servants. It is an outmoded model, which may have been relevant in the 1980s, but has long outlived its relevance. Looking at the historic impact of social partnership, it seems that pay deals were agreed behind closed doors, often at the expense of any real or meaningful public sector reform.

We now need to be realistic about the need for real public sector reform. (more…)

The decisions taken on Tuesday in relation to the banking sector have doubled the national debt.

They bring to €40B the total amount the Irish taxpayer will be putting into Anglo Irish Bank because of that bank’s reckless behaviour over the past decade.

Sadly this is not monopoly money, it is not ECB money. It is not cheap money. It is mortgaging the future of our country. Future generations will carry the burden of this debt. It is the final bill of the reckless economic management of the Fianna Fail government.

The Government’s Banking Policies

The Government’s banking policies have proved to be an expensive formula for delay, continuing credit contraction and job decimation.

1. When the Guarantee issued in September 2008, Minister Lenihan said it was “the cheapest bank bail-out in the world so far” (Irish Times, October 4) – instead it has proved the most expensive.

2. When the €11 billion of taxpayers’ money was given to AIB (€3.5 billion), Bank of Ireland (€3.5 billion) and Anglo Irish Bank (€4 billion) in May-June 2009, Minister Lenihan promised new lending for small businesses and a generous cash return for taxpayers. Neither was delivered.

3. When enacting the NAMA plan for the State to borrow €54 billion to buy toxic assets from the banks, Minister Lenihan said this would see “a wall of cash” (Sunday Tribune, September 16) hit the Irish economy. But instead lending conditions have continued to tighten and the banks have said they will use this money to repay their own debts instead of lending it into the economy. (more…)