HEAD 2 HEAD: Ahern:Don't be fooled by a fraudulent billboard contract; vote to defend and develop our new prosperity, argues Bertie Ahern
We come together to vote tomorrow in one of the most exciting moments in the history of our nation. In just 10 years, we have moved from unemployment and under-investment to sustained economic growth. Through hard work and perseverance, we have achieved the dream of peace in our time.
Our record in government is second to none. We have raised pensions, cut hospital waiting lists from years to months, brought in 3,000 new gardaí, cut taxes, built roads and the Luas, raised child benefit and helped to create 600,000 jobs. This represents more progress in a shorter time than achieved under any government in our history.
I understand we have not solved every problem these past 10 years. I know that the advances we have made on so many fronts, and which are so visible around us, do not mean the end of the challenges we face. But I believe the best way ahead is to build on our progress, not turn our back on it.
This election is about the future. I am excited about the possibilities. There is so much more that we can do, now that we have built the foundation of sustained prosperity.
Fianna Fáil has a specific, costed and ambitious plan for Ireland's future. It's the Next Steps Forward. This is a plan that has been costed, and thought through.
The Next Steps Forward begin with a commitment to protect Ireland's prosperity through a measured programme of tax cuts, balanced budgets, and paying back the national debt.
If Fianna Fáil is returned to government, we will use Ireland's hard-won prosperity to make progress that will affect the lives of every person on this island.
• We will raise pensions to at least €300 a week.
• We will increase investments in schools, health and transport, including 4,000 new primary school teachers, 2,000 more hospital beds, and the completion of the national motorway network.
• We will put 2,000 extra gardaí on the beat.
• We will raise child benefit.
• We will protect our farmers and rural communities.
• We will never rest in the pursuit of peace, and unity with consent on this island.
The Next Steps Forward is the way we can build a fairer, stronger, and even more prosperous Ireland. But there is one step we should never take. We should never go back to the days of economic downturn and unstable government.
In our debate last week, I asked Enda Kenny whether the very wealthy, the top 3 per cent of earners will gain more under his tax policies. He said they would. He called that policy decision his "choice" and "priority".
Tax cuts directed towards the wealthiest few is not Fianna Fáil's priority. It is our choice and our priority to concentrate tax cuts on the people who most need help: the low- and middle-income earners.
I asked Enda Kenny whether there is a single child alive today in Ireland who would be covered by his contract to provide free GP care to every child under five. He said that promise was for the end of his term in government, not the beginning.
I asked him whether his contract promise to hire 2,000 new gardaí was funded. He said the funding was there for only 1,000 more.
I asked him if there was money to pay for the 2,300 beds he promises in his contract. He said the money is in the National Development Plan, and the spending would be "reprioritised".
What he didn't want people to know is that the money in the National Development Plan that he says is for new hospital beds has been budgeted for other areas in health, like a new children's hospital, kidney dialysis, organ transplant, cancer control, and diabetes. And Enda Kenny even admitted last week that they have no target for class size.
All this led me to a simple and straightforward conclusion: Enda Kenny's contract with Ireland is a fraud. It isn't worth the billboard it is written on.
And the problem with Enda Kenny's contract is not only the promises in it, but what he leaves out as well. No mention of pensions, of schools, of transport. Not a word about farmers, or the peace process. And nowhere do we even see the word "jobs".
Enda Kenny said if he doesn't deliver the items in his contract he'll quit. But since he leaves jobs off the list, thousands of Irish workers could lose their jobs, but he still gets to keep his.
Ireland won't be fooled by promises on posters. We need a government
• that will cut taxes most for low- and middle-income earners, not the wealthiest;
• that will hire 4,000 new primary school teachers, not one that says class size is not the issue;
• that will fully fund the expansion of public hospital beds, not one that can't make up its mind how to fund them;
• that will increase the number of gardaí to 16,000, and fully fund that pledge, not one that promises more gardaí but then fails to pay for their own plan.
• that will raise pensions to €300 a week, not one which says pension increases are not a priority.
And here is the choice: should we build on the progress of the last 10 years, or take a risk, with unproven leadership and uncosted promises?
I ask for the chance to work with you to keep building an Ireland that our children and grandchildren can live and prosper in, an Ireland of pride and great purpose. It's up to all of us to get out to the polls, so that the peace and prosperity of the last decade can be defended and developed.
Now is the time for Ireland to take the Next Steps Forward.