Madam, - I would like to congratulate Marc Coleman on his excellent analysis of Middle Ireland's reaction to the "rip-off" economy (Opinion & Analysis, September 16th).
He correctly identifies the real rip-off at the centre of the Irish economy - the difference between the "competitive classes" (private sector workers) and the "protected classes" (public sector employees). The Irish workforce knows its own value. And increasingly no one can see the value we are getting from the public sector.
The elephant in the corner of all this, is of course, public sector pensions. The old principle that private wages were higher than public service wages no longer applies. In a recent survey, public sector pay is on average higher than in the private sector. Yet the average public sector pension entitlements are substantially higher than the average in the private sector. This is the inequality at the heart of the Irish economy.
Only 17 per cent of the total workforce is employed in the public sector. Yet their bloated pensions are paid for by the competitive classes, who then must pay for their own. Pension reform is needed now. The hugely powerful public sector unions will try to block reform. They must not be allowed to hold the country to ransom to defend their grotesquely unfair pensions. - Yours, etc,
JOHN KENNY, South Dock Road, Dublin 4.
Madam, - Congratulations to Economics Editor Marc Coleman. He has highlighted the principal conclusion to be drawn from recent elections and opinion polls: the combined vote of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael has declined from 84 per cent in 1982 to 57 per cent today. In the past quarter-century, one quarter of the electorate has switched away from the traditional parties.
He then poses the question: "Why has the Labour Party failed to garner significantly more than 10 per cent of the vote when one third of the vote is going to the left broadly?" The answer to the latter question is, I am sure, coalition with right-wing parties. I have raised these questions several times in the media in recent years.
In a recent opinion poll the combined left-wing vote was approximately 33 per cent, with the Labour Party scoring 13 per cent. This has been the established trend for a number of years. By comparison, the vote for Fianna Fáil recorded in the recent poll and in the local elections was 32 per cent.
There is clearly a need for a political movement to reverse the growing dominance of neo-liberalism (Thatcherism) in Irish life. Despite an unprecedented current budget surplus of €7 billion, the gap between rich and poor grows daily and people's fundamental needs, such as health, education and housing, are seriously underfunded by European standards. Necessary investment in physical infrastructure, which should be a charge on several generations, is being funded directly by taxpayers' money.
There is growing opposition throughout Europe to the dominance of public affairs by the neo-liberal agenda. The recent German poll, rejection of the EU Services Directive and of the EU Constitution in France and Holland are some examples. Isn't it time that this opposition gained a political voice in Ireland? Yet the Labour Party refuses to lead an alliance of the left though the left vote is now comparable to the Fianna Fáil vote.
Instead, the Labour Party is already dancing to the tune of the stridently neo-liberal Fine Gael Party. Performance management in health and league tables for schools are among the most urgent priorities of Fine Gael. Now the Labour Party is to join Fine Gael to produce a policy to combat wasteful expenditure in health, education and in other public services.
This has been agreed despite the overwhelming evidence that the main problem in health and education is underfunding and that our nurses and teachers have being doing a wonderful job against all the odds.
I believe the Labour Party should break with Fine Gael. I have no doubt that left-wing independents would then co-operate fully in a left alliance, including the Labour Party, for the next general election. - Yours, etc,
SEAMUS HEALY TD, (Independent, South Tipperary), Dáil Éireann, Dublin 2.