Now is time to step back... and plan a brighter future
WE ARE dealing well with an emergency that will have untold consequences into the future. Those contemplating forming a government should realise that there is a limit to what society will endure. The taxpayers still shoulder the burden of the 2008 crash that was not of our making.
Woeful leadership left us with huge cost-of-living expenses, homelessness, unaffordable housing, two-tier healthcare, creaking public transport, severe mental health issues, addiction, lawlessness, hospital overcrowding and the abandonment of the vulnerable as well as rural communities. We are already stretched to breaking point, so the structure of society needs to change so that everyone makes an input commensurate with their ability to pay.
Immoral tax loopholes for the upper tier of multi-millionaires, multinationals and vulture funds will need to be restructured to provide equitable distribution of wealth and services. The second tier, who sponge off society and complain about everything, will need to be made realise that the holiday is over. The bottom tier, i.e. the taxpayers, who get up early to pay for the upper two tiers, cannot again be called upon to pay and needs to receive public services of a standard that it is actually paying for.
Political structures and institutions need to be relevant and accessible to the citizens they purport to serve, who are far more ahead of the curve than the body politic. They must be consulted when legislation is being framed, not just at election time. Local government needs to be strengthened so the centre no longer sucks life from the rest of the nation and local taxes are put to work locally. The ‘change’ recently voted for needs to be honoured with social justice and equality as its motivators.
With lots of people out of work and able to stand back, the reality will become apparent, so we will need strong and visionary leadership.
Tom Beckett,
Let TDs live on €350
IT’S time for politicians to step up to the plate. Everybody else is doing their bit to help the needy. An Post is helping out, so are taxi firms and shops. I could go on.
Let the politicians live on €350 a week like all the workers who lost their jobs, and donate the rest of their wages to the medical fund to fight this virus.
Bill Ryan, Borris, Co. Carlow.
President must act
IN 2018 we had a presidential election in which Michael D Higgins portrayed himself as the best candidate to deal with Constitutional issues.
In his inaugural speech, he declared that he would be a President ‘for all of the Irish people, wherever they may be and in whatever circumstances’.
During what is the biggest challenge we have faced in our recent history; not alone have we a major health crisis, but we have a lurking Constitutional dilemma.
And where is our President? The 32nd Dáil was dissolved on January 14 and was followed by a general election, where the people firmly decided not to continue with an FG-led government. Furthermore, the 33rd Dáil failed to elect a taoiseach; hence, no confidence in Leo Varadkar.
One of the absolute powers of the President is when the taoiseach loses confidence of the Dáil – at that time his political judgment is crucial. I am not suggesting he call another general election immediately; however, we need leadership.
This is not a time to be out walking his dogs in the Phoenix Park or sitting by the fireside reflecting and writing poems.
While people are losing their businesses and jobs, it is not reliable to continue with a caretaker government. President Higgins has cleverly used action words throughout his many speeches i.e. ‘decision-shaping, decision-making, decision-taking’. in this crisis, he needs to indicate what type of decision-shaping, decision-making and decision taking is taking place. We have a potential Constitutional difficulty, where our Head of State, the representative of the people, must come out of his ivory tower and address the nation. He needs to demonstrate how he is working for the people. Otherwise, his office is pure drivel.
Ger Tobin, Leap, Co. Cork
Hourly rate on a bed?
THE chief of the Mater Hospital in Dublin, has said that if they run out of beds they will use the underground car park.
Alarming yes. But more concerning is that the cost of being in the car park is €3.20 an hour. Does one have to validate a bed ticket on discharge?
Dave Meehan, by email
Back to their roots!
AS WE are getting very sound advice to socially distance during this awful pandemic, am I presumptuous in believing that Miriam, Eileen, Sharon and Máire, along with their presenting skills, have now acquired expert hairstyling skills? Or maybe their true colours will be Breaking
News soon.
Geraldine Byrne, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.