Chrysalis

I ask this question because I get the strong feeling that we are more concerned about our economy and its recovery as the only vehicle for change. I ask this question because I have a strong feeling that this reliance on the economy to the detriment of our society will mean when this hoped for economic recovery does eventually arrive we will have no foundations to underpin it. We will instead have a rotten core with a disengaged citizenry who will have lost faith in the State and the Republic. If this is the case we are heading for a bleaker future then the one we are predicting right now.
So what do we need to do?
We need to say ‘STOP’, we all need a little time to get some clarity, starting talks on Croke Park Two a year out from the end of the current agreement was a mistake, it has only added to the noise and frustration in people’s lives. I understand that the government felt it was important to move and make savings where possible but they are doing so at a great cost. Unions are now pitted against unions, worker against worker and public against private. Maybe that is what they wanted all along. Either way we as citizens need to step up and take control.
The REPUBLIC of Ireland is still a pup in the nations of the world; we are close to the 1916 anniversary but are still 36 years shy of our centenary celebrations. Yet we are at a point where we need to reflect on (I can’t believe I am going to use this phrase) where we are. We need to reflect on what has come before; from how we allowed our systems to be structured to how we interacted with them. This includes everything from the civil and public services to our churches, schools and each other. This past decade has seen a lot of the negative cover-ups, abuses and neglect of the past come to light but we still have similar stories happening right now. We have children dying in the care of the State; we have patients locked up under draconian mental health laws and we are continuing to walk yet unborn generations into a level of indebtedness that could well be crippling.
Change is an easy term to throw out there; you can rightly ask ‘what do I mean by change?’ Sean Healy of Social Justice Ireland made a suggestion recently and it is one I would fully agree with. He suggested we have a flat rate of pay that no-one in the State would fall below whether working or on welfare with all citizens contributing to the Tax Take. This would allow those who want to take higher risks or gain higher qualifications earn more where possible and would also mean that they would also then pay proportionally higher taxes. The argument against this is that it will kill our motivation to take risks by starting business and creating jobs, well to counter that I would ask you to look to our European neighbours to the East and the North; they have active and vibrant economies with a lot of innovation, risk and reward. What they also have is a different attitude and attitude where they see themselves as members of a society not contributors to an economy.
An equitable income system would in itself not solve societal problems but it would be a start. We have a problem here that delivery of State services is not seen to be efficient, we see over administration and poor provision of ‘Front-Line’ services. The size of our civil and public services is not extraordinary when it comes to the EU we are roughly around the average. Where ours differs is that we have a lot of staff in administrative roles, for many years jobs were created by governments to get people off the dole queues, it was a crude reaction that showed no innovation and has led to many of the problems now in negotiating this new deal. We saw the Health Boards abolished and the HSE created but instead of a streamlined organisation we simply saw this new HSE layer landed on top of the old Health Board layer with duplication of roles and over staffing. We need to cut where necessary, this is harsh but we need to have vision and need to look at where we want to be in ten, fifteen or twenty years’ time and start working now to get there.
We also have a serious issue with higher paid civil servants including Oireachtas members and senior civil servants. It galls me to see that with all the problems we have in our economy we have TD’s on close to €100k secretary generals on €200k+ and all the allowances and expenses that go with their roles. Salary increases were granted for years based on the argument that it was the only way to attract the best people to the roles, I am sorry but we have seen no change to the personal particularly in the Dail and Seanad. We need to open our minds and decide that we are all going to look for changes for ‘all’ not just for me’.
I realise that it is not an easy concept to think of changes of this magnitude and I realise that it is difficult for individuals to think of themselves as being in any way a catalyst to that change. However, that is exactly where the change will start. We all need to take on our own level of responsibility but also to actively work with others to push for changes that will benefit all. We often look to the Scandinavian countries as examples of how best to structure a society. They have strong working economies that allow for the provision of strong working social services. The results of which are higher costs of living yes but with that comes a functioning society where services are delivered efficiently and the focus of state bureaucracy is less on its own survival and more on those it is designed to support, the people.
The style of politics and society could be described as ‘Social Democracy’, as a political belief social democracy in Ireland is somewhat of a dirty word. The reasons for this are many but in the main it is due to the blurring of where our political party’s sit on the political spectrum. It could be argued that this blurring is intentional, party’s like to portray themselves as one thing or another but essentially we have had two centre right party’s with 50%+ of the vote consistently (Fianna Fail and Fine Gael) with a ‘so-called’ left of centre party as a third wheel (Labour). There are of course others like Sinn Fein, the ULA and Independents from across the spectrum but essentially we have been led by centre right populist parties who have focussed of the retention of power over and above the needs of our society and the growth of our Republic.
So we need to ask ourselves, and you need to ask yourself are you ready to take up this challenge?