Madam, – Could we hope that several of those who have written recently in your paper about “An Bord Snip” and related issues would put their heads together for a few weeks and come up with an alternative? This taskforce might include Prof Morgan Kelly, Dr Michael Casey, Fintan O’Toole, Frank McDonald and others who have expertise and some inside knowledge of what happened, but were not party to the problem.
Their remit would be to look not only to the future to see how best to get us out of the present mess, but also to look back to name and shame those who were primarily responsible for getting us into it. The group might be called “An Bord Fhírinne” or, in English, “The Truth Taskforce’ (TTT). – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I feel the decision of our so-called public representatives in the Dáil and Seanad to adjourn for almost nine weeks’ summer holidays, prior to the publication of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes report and during the country’s worst economic and social crisis since the foundation of the State speaks volumes about their sense of patriotism and priorities.
While there is an urgent need for a national unity and government at this time, I strongly feel that no further cuts or budgets should be introduced until all public representatives’ salaries, expenses and pension arrangements are fully and honestly addressed. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Ireland has signed up to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals target of spending 0.7 per cent of gross national income on overseas aid by 2012. However, the McCarthy report signalled that Ireland should not meet the UN target until 2015.
Ireland’s overseas aid programme is seen as one of the most progressive in the world with particular focus on tackling health, education, HIV, hunger and extreme poverty, and it was recently highly commended by the OECD as such. Putting together the Hunger Task Force and appointing a Special Envoy on Hunger is a clear example of how Ireland’s overseas aid programme is leading the way in the international fight against hunger.
Last week UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, praised Ireland for “punching above its weight” and for “showing that a country does not have to be big and powerful to play an invaluable roll at the United Nations.” The secretary general also stated that Ireland should stick to meeting the UN target and called for a stop to further cuts in the aid budget.
A week ago overseas development aid campaign volunteers asked the public on Grafton Street, Dublin, what percentage of national income they thought the Government spends annually on its overseas aid programme. More than 80 per cent responded with figures of between 3 per cent to 5 per cent, with 90 per cent stating that 5 per cent would be a realistic figure when the economy improves. People were surprised to hear that we are currently spending only 0.48 per cent on aid. The original government commitment of 0.7 per cent of national income is actually only 70 cents out of of every €100.
Our poll indicates that the Irish public is fully behind Ireland’s work in the developing world and that this empathy and understanding is a core value of being Irish even in a time of crisis. We urge the government therefore to ensure we keep our commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of GNP in aid by 2012. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Why has the Central Bank escaped the scrutiny of the Snippers? Since all the important functions of a central bank have been transferred to the European Central Bank, there is a strong prima facie case for eliminating it altogether, except perhaps for a few specialists who could provide government banking functions.
Its statistical reporting could be transferred to the Central Statistics Office or the Department of Finance. Its analytical reports are hardly key policy documents – the latest Financial Stability Report is for 2007. Its best economists could be moved to the Department of Finance whose performance in forecasting revenues and expenditures clearly suggests that it needs competent help. – Yours, etc,