Sir, - Is the Taoiseach so confident of his party's electoral prospects that he can afford to tell 75,000 voters that they no longer matter? Is he so sure that most voters are benefiting from the economic boom that he can ignore these 75,000 who are living on less than 40 per cent of average incomes? A confident man, perhaps, but one obviously not in touch with the reality of poverty in his own constituency and throughout the country.
There are currently 75,000 people unemployed and actively seeking work (Quarterly National Household Survey, September 2000). There are another 79,000 who want to work but can't, because of barriers such as a lack of childcare. Yet Bertie Ahern tells his parliamentary colleagues in Kilkenny that Fianna Fail has delivered "full employment". Not once in his opening address did he admit that many people looking for work face real barriers. He also failed to mention that inflation has wiped out the paltry £4 dole increase his Government awarded, leaving those on the dole worse off than they were last year.
He could have said, "Fianna Fail will guarantee that people looking for work will not have to live in poverty. Fianna Fail will create meaningful full employment. Fianna Fail will deliver an economy that is fair to everybody." He didn't. Can he afford to lose 75,000 votes? - Yours, etc.,
Barrie McLatchie, Chairperson, Irish National Organisation of the unemployed, North Richmond Street, Dublin 1.