New heroes needed to save us from pension time bomb

AT SCHOOL in west Cork in the 1950s we learned the words of a song that included the line, ‘God save Ireland said the heroes’. I had forgotten about it until I saw the outcome of deliberations of the Dáil committee on pensions. What a gutless lot. They’ve dumped on our grandchildren for short-term popularity, shamefully adding to our poor record on the care and protection of children.

They’ve ignored the fact that a pensions time bomb awaits, particularly in the public sector. The number of working people for every pensioner is reducing steadily. It stands at four and a half to one and is forecast to drop to two to one by 2050.

There are small businesses in every parish in the land making an enormous contribution to the economic and social life of the country, providing local employment and supporting local charities and sports organisations. However, they do not seem to get the respect from the political and media classes that their contribution warrants. A typical owner/operator in this sector has no job security and works many more hours than is normal elsewhere. Yet they can only dream of the pensions that are available to public servants.

So what do our heroes of the committee recommend? Small businesses and their workers should contribute by way of increased PRSI to support those with much better pensions and job security than themselves.

And the Opposition, who give us so much guff about bringing about change, have joined the cosy Establishment through which they themselves benefit from public sector pay increases.

But we must have hope. At least, based on recent comments, Micheál Martin and Paschal Donohoe recognise the problem. So what’s to be done?

At the risk of upsetting the cosy club, could we not get even minimal changes like, for instance, ending the practice of giving public servant pensioners the same increases as serving officials? This practice doesn’t apply anywhere else. We could also require new recruits to begin contributing to their own pensions.

Private sector pensions pay out what the fund can afford unlike the situation where politicians consider pension issues in light of whether they can win or lose votes. Pressure on the public finances or the burden of debt on our grandchildren don’t seem to count for much.

Perhaps the Taoiseach could call together the leaders of the Dáil parties and attempt to get them all to appreciate the seriousness of the issue and to agree the tough decisions that need to be made in the national interest.

IBEC and the SFA (Small Firms Association) might do well to commission their own pensions report, on behalf of their members, and stand up to the powerful public sector unions and their allies in parts of the media.

Time for a new generation of patriotic giants to emerge. Remember Noël Browne; Seán Lemass and Donogh O’Malley of Fianna Fáil; Liam Cosgrave of Fine Gael, and the great public servant, Ken Whitaker, among others.

God save Ireland.

Pat O’Mahony, Westport, Co. Mayo.

Stop gale outages

EVERY time we have a storm or strong gales in this country thousands of people are left without power. Surely the ESB needs to prune or cut down trees that are too close to power lines far more often?

There are reportedly jurisdictional problems with Coillte and the ESB over whose responsibility it is to carry out this work, which can lead to no action until thousands are without power.

It is time to solve problems upstream rather than downstream and that takes Government action. Will they act or can we expect to lose power every time there’s a gale?

Maurice Fitzgerald, Shanbally, Co. Cork.

Button lessons

I read in Smokes & Daggers

(MoS, Feb 13) that senators are believed to have received an email from Leinster House offering training in how to vote – whether to press the red button, the green, or no button at all.

If this is what Leinster House thinks of our senators, perhaps colour blindness or IQ tests would be more appropriate to their training needs?

Denis Dennehy, Dublin.