Silly season on hold as serious issues prevail

YESTERDAY, THE Dáil adjourned for the summer and we are therefore on the precipice of what in normal times would be political and media silly season. Usually, in the absence of set piece political occasions, the summer months are dominated by relatively frivolous political stories. This year however the silly season is a luxury we cannot afford.

Above all else, politics is the art of deciding how to allocate finite resources between infinite competing demands. During the good times, our politicians avoided many difficult decisions. Governments threw money and personnel in increasing numbers at all sectors and at all problems.

Opposition politicians called repeatedly for even more money or personnel to be provided for whichever need or perceived need was then most high-profile. We lived in a false paradise where we assumed that, simultaneously, we could have low taxes; high levels of public expenditure; a large public sector together with high rates of social benefits an increasing number of which could be provided universally to everyone irrespective of means.

Now all has changed. After a decade or more of ducking the hard calls, we have to return to real politics. Next autumn we have crucial decisions to make in four key policy areas and there are four key documents, already published or about to be published, that should provide ample content for news and current affairs reporting and for real political debate over the summer months.

This year, politics and the media need to give us a season of substance rather than one of silliness. In October, the people will get to vote again on the Lisbon Treaty. The second time around, it comes with guarantees specifically addressing Irish concerns and with the promise that each country will retain its commissioner.

On Tuesday last, the Department of Foreign Affairs published a comprehensive White Paper on the treaty and the guarantees. This is the first of the documents which I am suggesting should get detailed consideration over the summer.

The date for the second Lisbon vote has been set for October 2nd, so there are 82 days left for a proper discussion of the treaty text and the issues surrounding its ratification. Given the timeframe, no one should have the excuse this time that they didn’t know enough about the treaty.

Between now and November, we also have a range of decisions to consider regarding how we should spend public money. The massive gap in the public finances means we have to re-evaluate every spending line, revisit the entitlement to every kind of benefit and to re-examine the need for every single agency.

We need to decide which services will continue to be provided by the public sector or be funded from the public purse. Important information, to assist the public debate about these choices, is contained in the report from An Bórd Snip Nua, chaired by Colm McCarthy. The Government should publish this report very quickly and it is the second of the documents that we should use the summer to dissect, debate and reflect upon.

Indeed, to assist the public debate on the expenditure cuts required, the Dáil finance committee should be asked to reconvene in the second half of August and deliberate on each and every proposal in the McCarthy report. They should bring in the relevant Government departments, hear from those likely to be directly affected and take testimony from other experts. Ideally, those opposing each cut should be asked to identify alternative savings.

In the early autumn, we will also have to make final decisions about precisely how we tackle the problems in our banking system and our property market. The details of the Government’s proposal in this regard will be contained in the legislation to establish Nama which is also due to be published shortly. With the recapitalisation of the banks, the Nama initiative will amount to the biggest intervention by government in our economy to date. If done correctly, it could transform the economic dynamic and propel us out of recession earlier; if done incorrectly, it could have catastrophic consequences and burden future generations with an unprecedented mountain of debt.

This Bill, or more usefully the Explanatory Memorandum to this Bill, is the third document that should get extensive and careful consideration between now and when the Dáil reconvenes to enact it in mid-September.

Before next autumn’s budget, we also have to decide how to reconfigure our tax base. Much ground work on this policy area has also been done by an expert group, namely, the Commission on Taxation and their report is also due to be published in the coming weeks. This too should be the subject of detailed exploration in the media and in the Dáil.

This summer, instead of announcing or re-announcing vague “new” initiatives, Ministers should set about giving detailed explanations of the choices we face in these policy issues. Instead of rushing out top of the head press releases on peripheral issues, Opposition politicians should tell us what they really think on these big questions.

This summer, instead of giving coverage to stories that normally would only get a mention in the sidebar, the media should provide the space and time for comprehensive debate and a real contest of ideas on these four policy areas.