Sir, - A recent issue of The Irish Times carried a long and complicated explanation by Mr Charlie McCreevy TD of why he does temporarily qualify for severance pay arising from the fall of the last Government, but does not qualify for a Ministerial pension. I am sure the intricacies of the arguments will be lost on most readers, and that the subtleties of Department of Finance procedures do not preoccupy the average Irish Times reader as he/she tackles their corn flakes each morning.
However, there are more pertinent issues on which Mr McCreevy has pointedly not elaborated over the past few months and for this reason it is good to see that he is still getting worked up over something, even if it is his pension entitlement, or the lack of it.
The North Kildare Alliance for Better Planning has written two open letters to him in recent weeks, both published by the local press. In these, issues which probably do get the average Irish Times reader (and voter) worked up (particularly those in his Kildare constituency) have been highlighted. But the public silence from Mr McCreevy has been deafening. Surely, his constituents are entitled to answers to a few straightforward questions?
For example, is he supporting the policy of his party's county councillors to rezone enough land in north Co Kildare to build a new Galway city? Is he concerned enough about the character of the region to dissociate himself from excessive rezoning proposals, or is he happy to condemn his constituency to the fate of becoming an addition to Dublin suburbia? What is his policy on the target populations of burgeoning towns such as Celbridge, Clane, Maynooth, Kilcock, Leixlip, Kill, Johnstown, Naas?
Does he have anything to say on these matters, or is he hoping the problem will go away? If the latter, the only certainty is that inaction and acquiescence in the north Kildare rezonings controversy wilt ensure that votes, like his severance pay, may also drastically diminish in 1997. - Yours, etc.,
Chairman,
North Kildare Alliance for Better Planning,
Ballycahan,
Kilcock, Co Kildare.