Vote FG out on Friday
the absolute omnishambles of its introduction is entirely down to the coalition. No government that made such a mess of that can be reliably expected to do anything to sort out health, crime etc
Even regardless of the fact that introducing water charges was part of the IMF deal, the absolute omnishambles of its introduction is entirely down to the coalition. No government that made such a mess of that can be reliably expected to do anything to sort out health, crime etc
This is a very interesting point. There is very little in policy differences between all the parties. They all want to take more people out of the tax net, maintain high taxes on the higher paid and continue to pay very high rates of social welfare.
So maybe we should decide based on which party we think would be the most capable administrators? Had FF been returned to power at the last election, would the introduction of Irish Water have been any more efficient and effective? If Paul Murphy were to be the Minister for the Environment, would the operation of the water system in Ireland be any more efficient or effective? We wouldn't have the water charges or the entity called Irish Water, but we would still have to spend €6 billion on water infrastructure over the next few years.
Brendan
When the real administrators are the civil service, who are there regardless of which party is in power...so does it make a difference at all?
I think one of the main reasons water charges have proved so unpopular is that those who are used to getting so much for nothing are now being asked to contribute. Ever notice the types of areas that have the large, anti water charges signs? The water charges are a lot less than the property tax, which in turn is dwarfed by the USC. That is if you are stupid enough to be working and have bought a house in the first place.
I think, overall, FG have done a good job. It's easy to say we should have burned the bond holders, but the consensus is that the net cost of "bailing out the banks" is around 45bn. A nice wedge to be sure, but this only represents 25% of our national debt....
An extract from a letter to the Indo.
"FG have presided over beating after beating for the Irish citizen at the hands of Banks,foreign and domestic,and never lifted a finger to protect us.As international rates plummeted,Irish Banks charged--and continue to charge --gouging rates from variable interest rate holders and small businesses."
Vote FG out on Friday
I have to agree with Cervelo. Your premise is flawed. FG/Lab have done a good job under very difficult circumstances and have proven to be sensible and measured, taking unpopular steps for the good of the country instead of playing the populist card. FF on the other hand...
I'm not in any doubt that FG mugged ordinary Irish citizens - interest rates, water charges, pension levy, not delivering on USC promises - rather than face down Europe over banks, burning bondholders etc etc.
Even regardless of the fact that introducing water charges was part of the IMF deal, the absolute omnishambles of its introduction is entirely down to the coalition. No government that made such a mess of that can be reliably expected to do anything to sort out health, crime etc
If anyone was mugged it was high earners and people with private pensions.An extract from a letter to the Indo.
"FG have presided over beating after beating for the Irish citizen at the hands of Banks,foreign and domestic,and never lifted a finger to protect us.As international rates plummeted,Irish Banks charged--and continue to charge --gouging rates from variable interest rate holders and small businesses."
Vote FG out on Friday
I agree with almost everything in your post after the ellipsis... But I can't look at Irish Water and see anything about it that remotely qualifies as 'good job', 'sensible' or 'measured'. Ditto for the pension levy.
FG may (or may not be) the least worst of the main parties, and that could be a reason to vote for them - but that's a different argument to saying that the reason to vote for them is because they did a good job. Purely judged on what they did in office, I couldn't vote them back in.
ps actually I'm voting Renua #1 and Independent Alliance #2.
I agree on Irish Water. So far they have done a good job. It's not their fault they were stuffed with thousands of staff that they didn't want or need or that the environmentally sound idea of a basic free water allowance with a usage based charge on top of that has been changed to a tax which serves no environmental purpose.
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