HEART BEAT:What we think and what they think are two entirely separate things, writes MAURICE NELIGAN
Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself. (Mark Twain)
WE NOW have a yawning chasm between what our politicians think of themselves and what everybody else thinks about them. Our Taoiseach thinks the IMF is misinformed about our situation. The delusions continue despite the continuous deluge of bad news and not an umbrella in sight.
I wrote a little about the Budget and welcomed the abolition of the long service awards for just being there in the Dáil or Senate and not related to any particular contribution or ability. I also welcomed the abolition of the practice of paying ministerial pensions to members who were still sitting in the Oireachtas. I welcomed these reforms because I actually heard the Minister when he spoke. It must be true, I thought.
I was deluding myself. Silly old me didn’t realise that such restrictions would apply only to future members and office holders. “Legal reasons” were vaguely alluded to to explain why such changes couldn’t happen right now. These were not spelt out, presumably we of the peasantry would have been incapable of understanding them.
We were told that it was never intended that such cessation of entitlements would be retrospective. More obfuscation, nobody thought from the Minister’s speech that he was seeking the return of monies already paid, but simply that the practice would cease forthwith.
I have a suggestion Minister. Frame the necessary legislation to allow such a course. Place it before the Dáil. See if you can carry it. The electorate will observe with interest those who oppose it and suitably reward them at election time.
Those who go further and seek the shelter of the law to uphold their situation would be doubly rewarded by us peasants. In fairness, the Green Party were more in tune with the public mood on this issue but have modified their earlier stance, to hold that such allowances should be forsworn voluntarily. This is akin to telling the lions in the amphitheatre to lay off the Christians voluntarily.
The Opposition were strangely quiet on this question; thereby missing an opportunity to show guts, sacrifice and leadership. This is what I mean about the gulf between parliament and people.
It’s all right for the sheep to feel the pain but not the shepherds. Even that noted Roman liberal, Tiberius, pointed out that “it is the part of the good shepherd to shear his flock, not skin it”. But then I suppose it was this crowd of shepherds who threw us to the wolves in the first place, before they set about skinning the survivors.
The political unawareness on this issue was simply astounding. Minister Dermot Ahern in explaining matters to us referred to the fact that political life was uncertain and that failure to be re-elected could leave the ex-deputy with little to fall back upon (barring his/her pension of course).
I found this statement simply incredible. Did the Minister consider the position of the thousands losing their jobs on an almost daily basis with nothing to cushion their fall apart from the odd almost defunct pension scheme which found itself suddenly with nothing in the pot.
Incidentally, that bumbling little charade of reducing junior ministries added little to the public estimation of Government. Firstly, because outside the rarified air of Leinster House most people would have been happier if he had abolished all or nearly all such posts. Secondly, because the demoted are apparently to receive a large golden handshake, despite their being still serving members of the Dáil, to cushion their departure from whatever they were supposed to be doing. It’s tough to be turfed off the gravy train.
I noted with interest that the Chief Elf weeded out two of the most able people in his party in John McGuinness and Dr Jimmy Devins. They must have forgotten the immortal words of PJ Mara, “Una Voce, Una Duce”.
A last point on this issue; there appeared to be no grey “legal issues” when applying retrospection to the levies inflicted on the peasantry.
I had a “bad hearing day” listening to the Budget. I naively welcomed the Minister saying that he proposed to abolish the tax relief available for the construction of private hospitals. I thought this was right and proper and maybe indicated a halting, or at the very least a slowing of, the ill-conceived rush toward privatisation, that has destroyed our health service during this Minister’s tenure.
It was of course more obfuscation. No change of direction was intended. There was no Pauline conversion to decency and care for the sick. Why they bothered to include it in the Budget at all is a mystery. Because within a few days the Department of Health (I knew they still had a purpose, to wit singing from the Minister’s hymn sheet) were into the ring to explain that programmes already in progress would not be affected by the abolition of such tax relief. They stated that the co-location projects as agreed would go ahead, despite the decision announced in the budget. These projects are not under way. Many have no funding. Some have no planning permission.
This odious socially divisive project could be stopped tomorrow morning.
The IMO and a recent report from the Adelaide Society and ESRI have recently pointed out the negative problems of co-location and overwhelming medical and nursing opinion is against the concept. Co- location is not about altruism and patient care. It is about somebody making money.
The insured and wealthy will be looked after. As for the rest, the official attitude would appear to be summarised in the old Irish proverb “it’s easy to sleep on another man’s wound”.
Maurice Neligan is a cardiac surgeon