Politics at breakneck speed

A WEEK is a long time in politics the old cliché goes but here in Ireland, we’ve accelerated matters to the speed of Usain Bolt in that situations have been changing almost by the hour. We’re in GUBU territory once again.

Who knew what about when the Irish Government politicians or senior civil servants, acting on their instructions, made tentative overtures to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Union or neighbours Britain about deploying the lifeboats filled with billions of euro to rescue our doomed economy?
Not happening, no truth in it, no idea this is being considered, were among the reactions from Government ministers last week when challenged by Opposition that the IMF were on the way.
It was the governor of the Central Bank, Patrick Honohan, who laid it all bare on Thursday of last week; what the dogs on the streets in Ireland and their cousins in Europe and the US already knew, we were in deep trouble and the IMF was just waiting for the word to act. He expected negotiations to be effective with a loan running to tens of billions of euro, available for draw down as necessary.
When there was finally an acknowledgement that the IMF officers were on the way, Taoiseach Brian Cowen all but suggested that the team, led by Ajai Chopra, was coming over for a cosy little tête-à-tête. He was still in denial, as were several of his government ministers who, in a series of interviews, were distinctly uncomfortable when asked for direct answers to direct questions. It was double speak and fudge.
The outrage among members of the public was encapsulated in Labour Party TD Pat Rabbitte’s onslaught against Minister Pat Carey on RTÉ’s Prime Time on Thursday night.
By Monday, the Greens, peeved that they had not been kept in the loop by the majority partners in government, decided enough was enough and asked Mr Cowen to call an election in the second half of January. Jackie Healy Rea and Michael Lowry added spice to the bubbling political concoction when they indicated that they could not give any guarantees of support for the budget.
A number of Fianna Fáil backbenchers have since got in on the act, calling on Mr Cowen to step down.
The Taoiseach, flanked by his Fianna Fáil Cabinet members, announced at a hastily convened press briefing that he would be calling an election in the new year but not before that little matter of the budget has been enacted.
Fine Gael and Labour want to see the back of the coalition government straight away, even if this does mean a polling day close to Christmas.
The banking dimension of our economic woes has also sunk to a new low with the Government preparing to take a 99.9% stake in AIB and secure majority control of Bank of Ireland under the rescue plan.
Wednesday afternoon brought the publication of the four-year plan, which sets the tone of what to expect in the December Budget. Very little will escape the axe as the Government strives to make up €15 billion by 2014. The package of measures will seek to claw back €10 billion through spending cuts and another €5 billion by way income tax and VAT increases, with €6 billion front-loaded in the 2011 Budget. As promised, the State’s prized 12.5% corporation tax is to remain unchanged.
On the cards are spending cuts in the order of  €2.8 billion in the area of social welfare, primarily in respect of unemployment benefits and child income supports. There is no proposal to change the existing State pension rate but the plan seeks to increase the age at which people qualify for the pension to 66 in 2014, 67 in 2021 and 68 in 2028. There will, however, be a reduction in pensions for retired public sector workers.
The minimum wage is earmarked for a €1 cut to €7.65 as the current high rate posed a barrier to job creation, according to the Government.
A property tax by another name, a property site value tax, will be introduced in 2012, which it estimates will generate €180 million that year and a further €175 million in both 2013 and 2014.
On the education front, third level registration fees will rise by €400 to €2,000 and it will cost €200 to join a post Leaving Cert course.  Teachers qualifying after next year also face the prospect of working at a lower rate of pay than their colleagues.
Public sector staff levels are to be cut by 24,750, bringing it back to 2005 levels, while the public sector pay bill will be reduced by €1.2 billion during the four-year period. Half of the reduction in public sector staff numbers has already been achieved, according to the Government and compulsory redundancies have been ruled out.
There’s not a whole lot to look forward to in Ireland over the next few years and for most people, it will mean keeping a very tight rein on their household spending. Discretionary spending on life’s little luxuries will also be severely curtailed.  So much for all the talk of green shoots and coming out of recession, which the Government was quite happy to crow about earlier this year. It’s deeper and deeper into the mire we’ve sunk and we’ll be floundering around for a long time to come.
Recently, the Government doled out cheese from a storage mountain. Perhaps, it would have been more appropriate if bananas were on the menu.  After all, we’re not far removed in economic terms from countries that we have disparagingly described as “banana republics”.