Fiscal Compact Treaty(my Left Tribune Article)

It is no surprise to look around Europe and see a cohort of right-wing and conservative governments seated around the European Council after reading the fiscal compact. This is because the measures contain in the fiscal compact seek to make progressive economics illegal in Europe forever.

The fiscal compact seeks to force countries into a fiscal straitjacket by maintaining a balanced or surplus budget by limiting their deficit to 0.5% of gross domestic product. What Ireland’s finical problems have told us that the “if I have, I spend it” attitude that enforces pro-cyclical economics is deeply flawed. It is the consensus of the Left that austerity does not work. It acts to further supress the economy and limits the opportunity for growth. We know that what is needed is an investment lead recovery; it’s the best and fairest way of returning to economic prosperity.

We on the left know that expenditure cuts disproportionately hit low income earners. It is important to remember that we are where we are due to neoliberal policies and the right in Europe want us to give them another chance. Despite knowing that investment is fairer on society than austerity it also makes more economic sense too. At the moment consumer confidence is low and no matter how much the government call on people to spend to help stimulate the economy, it is unreasonable to expect them to do so whilst they are experiencing increasing financial burdens with the constant fear of losing their job. That’s where a sensible government needs to step in and spend countercyclical to kick start the economy. You can’t cut your way out of a recession, but you can certainly grow your way out.

There for the name ‘Growth and Stability Pact’ is hugely misleading, as this is the exact opposite of what this treaty seeks to have implemented across Europe. The imposed debt ceiling will mean that as countries’ economies go into decline they’ll be legally obliged to reduce their deficit, ie impose austerity. In the aftermath to the Euro crisis we were told that it was impractical to have a monetary union without a fiscal union.  It now is being sold by European leaders, including Enda Kenny and  the Irish Government, as a measure to stop governments going wild with spending as the Irish Government did from 1997 onwards. This is not the case at all, that was pro-cyclical spending the kind of economic policy this Fiscal Compact would see institutionalised. In the aftermath to the Euro crisis we were told that it was impractical to have a monetary union without a fiscal union. Minister of State for Europe, Lucinda Creighton was quick to defend such a move with the promise of Eurobonds and support in the form of stimulus from Europe. None of this has come to fruition due to unwillingness by the German government look after its own self-interest.

They are instead making it illegal to pursue countercyclical economic policies though an imposed debt ceiling linked to GDP. So basically when the economy is in recession the government will not be allowed to stimulate to compensate for a fluctuating economy.

We are now also being told by Michael Noonan and Brian Hayes that is necessary for Ireland to approve this treaty to avail of bailout funds in the future. As a member state of the International Monetary Fund though we are not solely reliant on the European Commission and European Central Bank to lend us money in desperate times. These are after all the intuitions which contributed to Ireland’s banking sector collapse and now are willing to see the Irish people burdened to protect their vested interests. Another piece of propaganda is the selling of the vote as a referendum on our Euro membership. Nonsense once again. There is an obvious need to solve the Euro debt crisis, no one is denying that, but we are saying there is a better way. A way the left should be advocating that includes economic stimulus, Eurobonds and a financial transaction tax as part of a new progressive European agenda. It’s the common sense approach. Neoliberalism has failed, why are we so insistent on letting it guide us out of this crisis.

The entire treaty is based on the right’s opinion that the only way to achieve economic growth is to inflict austerity in the hopes it might create the conditions necessary. Ridiculous if you consider austerity will damage the economy beyond repair whilst hurting the most vulnerable in society. We are not just being asked to give neoliberalism another chance, but to enshrine it into European law and actually make a Keynesian and expansionary alternative unconstitutional.  We ought to tell them no.

Local Government Reform

Since independence Local Government has become more and more controlled by the central Government. This goes back to the need to prevent the corruption that was rife in Local Authority councils whilst Ireland was part of the United Kingdom.

Now though it is time to put democracy back in to our local government. Currently the executive figures within councils are the County/City Managers. Thanks to a series of regressive legislation by Fianna Fáil Governments these managers actually have more authority over the council than democratically elected councillors. The most efficient way of introducing democracy is too replace these managers with Chief Executives(as promised in the programme for government) and make them answerable to a democratically elected executive figure in the council. This figure could take one of two forms:
1) A Council Leader who is elected as a councillor onto the local authority and is elected by other councillors to take on an executive leadership position for the 5 year term(a lot like the way the Taoiseach is elected and answerable to the Dáil).
2) A directly elected Mayor to wield executive authority over the work of the council but with her/his work scrutinised and supervised by local councillors.

Both positions are equally democratic and would take away executive power from unelected and unaccountable officials. Though obviously both have draw backs, like the giving of so much power to a Council Leader who many people might not even recognise or a Mayor whose independence from the council could create a presidential style figure. But I think the Govt should give the decision to the people locally as different council areas have different needs. Elected Mayors, for example, might suit urban councils whilst Council Leaders would be better suited in rural councils.

Once Council's have a more democratic leadership its time for the central government to hand over revenue raising authority, eg the Property Tax, Water Levy, etc. Council's need to be able to fund there own work with as little funding from the central government as possible.

The next problem is the local authorities themselves. The current two tier Local Government system needs to be done away with. On top of Ireland's 34 City and County Councils we also have 5 Borough and 75 Town Councils(mostly in areas with very small populations). Despite the huge amount of these second tier authorities, Ireland's second most populous county(and third most populous council area), South Dublin County does not have a single town council. And rightly so. Town Councils are just another layer of bureaucracy that should be gotten away with. Their functions can be assumed by Local Area Committees of the County Council. There is an argument to be made that Borough Councils continue to exist in the same way City Councils exists independently within their counties, though it might not be practical for all of them to take over the functions of the county councils in there area. Limerick City Council should also continue to remain separate from the rest of Limerick County due to need for the city to govern itself. 

Town Council's have always meant that rural areas have been more represented than urban areas. Though on top of this, voters in the Dublin region are severely under-represented. To take South Dublin County Council and contrast it with Leitrim County Council. SDCC serves a population of 265,000 with 26 Councillors whilst LCC serves a population of 32,000 with 22 Councillors. So basically South Dublin's extra 233,000 gets it only four more councillors. And there is a similar situation across other counties when compared to the four Dublin authorities. To bring things into line you councillors need to be decreased whilst increasing councillors in the Dublin Region. The best way to do this is by reducing the number of councillors elected to rural councils. Though its more complicated in Dublin as you cannot just start loading ridiculous amounts of councillors into under represented councils. The ideal solution would be to increase the number of local authorities themselves, giving the larger areas like Tallaght their own council.

Of course the best way to increase Dublin local government representation is the introduction of a regional authority over the entire Dublin Area. This would ideally be headed up by a directly elected Mayor and Assembly. In contrast to what the Green Party tried to push through, the powers of the Mayor should not be taken from the existing local authorities in Dublin but instead should be taken from central Government Departments(Environment, Transport, Enterprise, Arts, etc.) and quangos. The Dublin Region produces 50% of Ireland's revenue, and given the large population should be allowed have a certain amount of autonomy over its own affairs to ensure the proper management of the economy, infrastructure and services in the Region. The only way to ensure the people of Dublin are best served is by having a more integrated way of providing services.

So thats just my two cent on the issue of Local Government Reform.