THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE - but nobody warned us! LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE

Will Fianna Fáil ever stop lying to us?

Fianna fáil are continually trying to blame the disastrous economic situation in this country on unforeseeable world economic circumstances and in no way is Fianna Fáil, Blessed Bertie or Biffo to blame for what the nasty big world has done to Ireland. However, the fact that our economy was being run in a reckless, criminal manner was foreseen by one party, Sinn Féin. We saw the crazy government fuelled property boom for what it was and we called on the government, and other parties, to take action. We called for an end to tax and PRSI cuts because the policy was economic madness. Weere we listened to? No!

Sinn Féin repeatedly tackled government Ministers regarding their failure to take any measures to stop the escalation of house prices. We questioned government Ministers regarding the development of a property bubble and we regularly and consistently warned the Government that the reliance on property and consumption taxes could not be sustained and that the tax base needed to be broadened.

We called for the ending of tax breaks which were fuelling the property bubble and for the introduction of a tax on second homes to curb growing house prices which were seeing investors price first time buyers out of the market. We opposed the cutting of capital gains tax on the basis that it would fuel the property bubble and make it more profitable to speculate in property than to run a business.

Our record is clear, Sinn Féin opposed proposals by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour in advance of the 2007 election to cut taxes on the basis that taxes had already been cut to unsustainable levels and we opposed proposals to cut PRSI on the same basis. Any examination of Sinn Féin’s record in the Dáil from 2002 - 2007 in particular will verify these facts. All of our TDs are on record raising these points on numerous occasions.

Unfortunately, rather than consider or even listen to our views, we were described as economic illiterates and disregarded. We now see the consequences of that attitude in the extent of the economic recession

Now once again they are asking us to believe their lies. They claim NAMA is the only way to solve the banking crisis. They say that cuts to public expenditure are unavoidable and the recommendations of An Bord Snip and the Taxation Commission are the only way forward.

The fact is that Fianna Fáil has neither the mandate nor the moral authority to implement NAMA, the McCarthy report or the Commission on Taxation report. They cannot be trusted, nor do they have the competency, to steer this economy in the right direction and a general election should be called immediately.

We in Sinn Féin believe that the economic crisis created by Fianna Fáil must be tackled, but that those who can afford to pay must be asked to pay the most. Those who are either unemployed, ill, in full time education, have special needs, are raising families on modest incomes etc, these people should not be asked to suffer for the failures of Bertie, the property speculators, the greedy bankers and the super rich. No those that can afford to pay should help us through this crisis.

An Bord Snip - Written by the rich and aimed at making the poor pay.

THERE has been an angry reaction across the 26 Counties to the recommendations to government of ‘An Bord Snip Nua’ published on 16 July.€5.3 billion of spending cuts, mainly affecting health, education and social welfare, and thousands of job losses have been recommended by the report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes chaired by economist Colm McCarthy.

What have been widely described as ‘slash and burn’ recommendations have received an angry reception from health and disability groups, teachers, public sector workers, farmers’ organisations, gardaí and the defence forces. Trade unions representing workers have threatened industrial action if the government proceeds with the recommendations to attack jobs and pay.

Who wrote the report?


Sinn Féin Finance Spokesperson Arthur Morgan TD has said Irish society cannot afford to implement the proposed cuts. Morgan criticised Colm McCarthy for proposing cuts to the lowest earners in society while earning €1,000 a week for preparing the report.

"The government needs to question how, in advance of the European Year for combating poverty and social exclusion in 2010, Ireland will be dealing its harshest blow yet to those struggling families that have lost their incomes as a result of job losses, those families who have to wait weeks to get any sort of subsistence from the State, the families that were encouraged to take out exponential mortgages and now have no means to make payment. For the Irish Government that are so keen to redeem themselves in the eyes of foreign lenders, the European Year will highlight how the government has failed those on the margins of society, especially if An Bord Snip’s recommendations are to be adopted.

"I especially find the remarks on welfare payments being a disincentive to labour participation repugnant. While members of the group may be privileged enough to have a career and an extra job on the side, ordinary Irish people are struggling to keep their jobs or indeed to find a job. No-one takes pride in having to stand in a queue for Social Welfare or having to scrape by on the crumbs afforded to them by government."

"Colm McCarthy surely is Doctor Evil in this respect for he has prescribed more pain and misery for the poor as a form of recovery for everyone else."

Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD said the government has made a conscious and motivated decision to bail out the banks, indebting taxpayers for decades to come, but refuses to stimulate the economy to keep people employed and is quite happy to cut dole payments at the same time.Sinn Féin, he said, had identified €80 billion worth of savings which don’t target the vulnerable, through abandoning the "ludicrous NAMA plan". He added, "The government is on a crash diet. They don’t care about the long-term consequences, they just want to inflict pain now on sections of the economy which they have no vested interests in so they can make-up for their own mistakes and look good to international suitors."

He said the vast majority of the proposals in the ‘Bord Snip’ report should not be implemented. "The government should make this clear and not allow people struggling on social welfare or at risk of losing their jobs, to be worried sick about how they will survive."

Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Agriculture and Rural Development Martin Ferris TD said: "There must be many people around the country wondering what they did to deserve the punishment recommended to be visited on them by Colm McCarthy who was one of the cheerleaders of the disastrous property bubble that is behind much of the current mess. Indeed as recently as May 2007 DKM Consultants, which provides Mr. McCarthy with one of his other lucrative nixers, was advising people that the property outlook was bright and predicted an increase in construction output in 2009. Ironically that report was done in conjunction with the incompetent speculators of EBS.

"So it will come as no comfort to ordinary decent people around this country that the bill for the mess created by these people will arrive not at the door of the property speculators, gambling bankers, tax exiles and their puppets in the Galway tent but at those of decent hard working people whose lives and society are threatened by the consequences of the excesses and stupidity and greed of the wealthy unproductive elite."

Meanwhile Donegal Sinn Féin Senator Pearse Doherty said, "Colm McCarthy and the other members of An Bord Snip Nua are all significantly high earners who are so far removed from the reality facing the hundreds of thousands of people dependent on social welfare that they are not qualified to recommend cuts to social welfare payments. This also goes for the members of government who will now try to implement the disgraceful cutbacks contained in the Bord Snip report.

Commenting on the report Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams said that if implemented its proposals would have devastating social consequences.

He said:"As well as dismantling the health service, effectively abolishing the medical card system, slashing social welfare, increasing the pupil-teacher ratio in our already under-funded schools and reducing special needs assistants, the recommendations of this report directly threaten the future sustainability of rural communities."

Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD said the Government has no mandate to implement the sweeping measures in the report which would "devastate healthcare for the sick, education for children, care for older people and social supports for all those who need them". He called for a national debate on the way forward and a General Election.

"Our public health system is already suffering because of the continuing cuts which began in 2007. If the further cuts in this report are implemented the public health system will be plunged deeper into crisis with very serious consequences for patients. There is already a shortfall of hospital beds and nurses, insufficient numbers of GPs, inadequate primary care, long waiting lists, and cuts to a whole range of services such as home helps. To impose more cuts in health and social care services would be worthy of Thatcher at her worst and such cuts will be resisted", he said.