An alternative to targeting low paid workers is possible

As we approach the end of another year we are facing into one of the toughest budgets in the history of the state. Our public finances are in tatters, 440,000 people are on the dole, more people now live in poverty and those on social welfare find themselves without the Christmas payment. And yet sections of the media, right wing economists and the Government join forces to make public sector workers public enemy number one.

This is wholly unfair and must not be allowed to happen. Workers in the public or private sector are not responsible for the current economic mess. Yet these workers and those who are without jobs are the Governments target as they prepare a savage budget. The Government will claim there is no alterative. This is a lie. Sinn Féin has proven in its pre-budget submission that targeting the low paid and those on social welfare can and should be avoided.

As I type Union leaders are negotiating with the Government ways in which to cut public sector pay. It looks like compulsory unpaid leave is on the cards. This is as unworkable as it is unfair. Many public sector workers earn less then the average industrial wage yet they face the prospect of losing two weeks pay. The Government could cap public sector salaries at €100,000 a year and instantly save €500million but are choosing instead to disproportionatly target the lower paid. It is no surprise that trade union leaders are acquiescing to this but it is still disappointing. There is a fairer way and a more equitable way to approach this budget but it seems the Government are intent on their mission to target the poor and those on low pay.

€8 million taken out of Waterford Economy

Figures presented to me by the Department of Finance show that 36,000 families in Waterford rely on the Social Welfare Christmas bonus. This payment is used to cover extra expenses which occur at this costly time of year and will result in parents turning to money lenders, inevitably compounding existing family money problems and forcing them into further catastrophic debt in the New Year.

This scrooge-like move will deny a lot of children a Christmas. The fact that the Government can seek to cut money from those on just €204 a week while seeking to protect those on over €200,000 a year is reprehensible.

This cut will also see huge pressure being put on parents who have lost their jobs and are living from hand to mouth. This will drive many into the hands of money lenders – both legal and illegal and will have serious repercussions and will send families spiraling into whirlwinds of debt.
This will also cause hardship for those pensioners already struggling to make ends meet. Last year many older people used the bonus to pay for fuel, rather than buy Christmas presents for their grandchildren or to meet their other festive costs. The bonus helped older people get through one of the coldest winters in recent years.

As well as the hardship it will mean for those directly affected, the axing of the Christmas Bonus makes no economic sense. It will result in millions of euros being taken out of local economies putting jobs at further risk. Over €8million will be lost in the local economy in Waterford. This will hurt Waterford retailers already struggling to stay afloat.

Many of the people who will be affected by the removal of the Christmas bonus are as yet not aware of the fact. The people affected don’t have savings to cope with this unexpected reduction in their income – unlike the golden circle that this government panders to; the people affected by this cut don’t have nest eggs tucked away or overseas bank accounts that they can turn to.
We in Sinn Féin have been running a campaign against the withdrawal of the Christmas Bonus over the past number of weeks and have highlighted outside the local social welfare office how this callous move will affect the most vulnerable.

Mary Hanafin on one hand blames striking public sector workers for delays in making payments while on the other hand it is her very own colleagues in government axing completely the Christmas Bonus.

This is a cruel cut which will deny children a Christmas and will mean extra hardship for struggling families. It must be reversed. Sinn Féin in Waterford will step up its campaign over the coming weeks and will do all we can to force the Government to reverse this mean-spirited and counter-productive policy

Government abandons social housing to bail out developers

The Department of the Environment recently informed local authorities that leasing units from the private sector will become the main driver of social housing delivery in the coming years. The plan will involve locking local authorities into a lease arrangement with a developer for periods of 10 and 20 years with the housing authority responsible for insurance, maintenance and upkeep. The tenants of the leased properties will be local authority tenants.

I think this plan is wrong and represents the wholesale privatisation of social housing. It is nothing more then a sop to developers and banks. The state is now going to spend tens of billions of taxpayer’s money over the next decade lining the pockets of developers. When these lease arrangements end neither the local authority nor the tenants will own a single brick on any of these properties. Families will also face the prospect of being asked to vacate a house that they lived in for 10 years or more and have made their family home.

This plan follows on from the Rental Accommodation Scheme which sees the state spending €500 million a year on private accommodation and seeks to extend this further and will inevitably see billions of Euros of taxpayers money wasted. The winners from this scheme are developers and landlords and the losers will be the taxpayer and potential social housing tenants. This is another Government sop to developers and must be scrapped.

Meanest cut in decades should be reversed

We have seen a lot of cuts from this Government in recent times. We have seen a lot of cuts from many Governments but surely none as mean as cutting the Christmas bonus for those on social welfare. Families with children use this money to cover basic costs of Christmas and removing it will force many into the hands of ruthless moneylenders. It is all the more galling that the decision to cut the payment was made by politicians who earn 15 times more then those who will be effected.

This payment has also been taken from pensioners. Elderly people use this additional payment to help cover the costs of fuel over the winter and as a result of this cut will undoubtedly go without sufficient heating this year.

This cut is part of a wider agenda of making those who can afford to pay least pay most. Those setting the agenda want us to believe that we must see cuts in social welfare at a time when billions are pumped into the banks. This ruthless agenda also seeks to divide workers, gut the public service, cut funding to the community and voluntary sector and essentially shield those who benefited most from the boom years from paying their fare share.

There is though another reason why this payment should be restored. The withdrawal of this payment takes money out of the local economy and will hurt local businesses. The only people who will gain are the ruthless moneylenders who prey on the poor. The Government should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves for putting the poorest in our society into such a vulnerable position. Next week Sinn Féin in Waterford will step up our campaign to have the cut reversed by protesting outside the local social welfare office and taking our message directly to those effected. We will be joined in our campaign by Santa Claus in order to highlight the scrooge type nature of this cut.

Nine reasons to say ‘No to NAMA’:

NAMA is working its way through the Dáil. Hundreds of amendments are being tabled by the opposition almost all of which are ignored. However the whole basis of NAMA is flawed. Most people realise that NAMA is a bad deal for them as a taxpayer and they are right. I offer below nine reasons why it is a bad deal and I would be happy to debate this issue with any member of Fianna Fáil or this Government.

Nine reasons to say ‘No to NAMA’:

(1) Economists have estimated NAMA will cost each man, woman and child in the state €15,000 (€60-€70 billion). That’s a lot of hospitals, schools, jobs and public infrastructure.

(2) The Government has done nothing to help families and businesses facing repossession, negative equity and economic hardship, they still have to pay their bills, and it is raising taxes and cutting public spending to pay for the mess they, the banks and developers have made.

(3) NAMA will pay more for developers’ loans than they are worth and let them pay them back at their leisure.

(4)The Bill relies on banks to act in ‘good faith’ when giving the taxpayer information about the bad loans.

(5)The loans these developers were given helped to drive up house prices, so we’re being made to pay twice.

(6)NAMA will be able to give taxpayers’ money to developers to finish projects and even force a purchase on land in the way of developments.

(7)The Minister for Finance (currently a Fianna Fáiler – the builders’ friends) will have the power to overturn ‘independent’ valuation of developers’ loans made by NAMA and pay them more.

(8)There is no guarantee that the banks will start lending even after NAMA clears their bank sheets.

(9) It will cost money to sort out the banks and the bad loans but nationalisation would allow us to deal with the developers, kick out the corrupt management, get banks lending again, protect homeowners and businesses, and entail the least pain for the taxpayer.

Opening of new cable-stayed bridge and bypass great news for Waterford

I attended the official opening of the new cable-stayed bridge and bypass for Waterford today. The bridge itself is every bit as impressive as the one over the Boyne at Drogheda. The overall N25 project involves a Bypass extending from west of Kilmeaden to east of Slieverue in Co. Kilkenny. The route, comprising approximately 25 kms of motorway, crosses the River Suir at Grannagh, close to the location of the existing N24/N9 junction to the north west of Waterford City, providing Waterford with its second bridge over the Suir and allowing traffic on the N25 Cork/Rosslare route to bypass the city. The next phase of the project to open will be the section from Grannagh to Kilkenny.

This is undoubtedly great news for Waterford. Many people at many levels were involved in nurturing this project from conception to completion. The idea and demand for a new bridge pre-dates most of the politicians and civic leaders in attendance at today’s ceremony and is a long time in the waiting. It will greatly help traffic flow in the city itself by diverting thousands of cars and trucks on a daily basis. When opened in its entirety the new bypass will make Waterford and the Southeast more competitive as it shortens the drive time to key cities such as Cork and Dublin.

The only sting in the tale is the tolling of the bridge. The new bypass will be tolled also. I am not a fan of PPP’s or tolling as they cost more in the long run and line the pockets of privateers. Examples of this can be seen all over the country most notably the M50. The new Suir Bridge is now locked into a 25 year tolling charge mechanism. This is regrettable but outside the control of most local politicians. However the infrastructure itself is of the highest standard architecturally and looks fantastic. The opening of the bridge is very welcome and is a great day for the city.

Back to Education Allowance scheme needs to be urgently reformed

The Back to Education Allowance is widely recognised by those who work in the sector as an important bridge for those making the transfer from welfare dependency to employment. Presently over 400,000 are on the live register and are seeking employment. As a result of failed Government policies more jobs are being lost than created. There is no doubt that proper job creation and retention policies will help turn this tide. However with the best will in the world 400,000 jobs will not be created in the next 12 months and it is going to take some time and new thinking for us to get back to full employment.

There are many people on the dole at the moment who wish to avail of education and training courses but are unable to do so. Equally there are many people on courses who are being forced to leave because of the failure of the Back to Education Allowance scheme to meet their needs. In order to qualify for the scheme you must be at least 12 months on the live register and in receipt of a social welfare payment. This is simply not working. The scale of the current unemployment crisis is so bad that it is vital that this support is extended to unemployed people much earlier. We have a crazy system at present where people are being forced to sit on the dole for 12 months and draw social welfare as a means to qualify for the back to education allowance. I know of a number of cases where people are being forced to drop out of education altogether as they fall a little short of the qualifying criteria.

We need a job creation and retention package to urgently tackle the current unemployment crisis. A major part of this has to be up-skilling and re-training. The current system is failing those currently unemployed and needs to be urgently reformed.