Archbishop criticises 'greedy' in society

THE ARCHBISHOP of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said those who were “irresponsibly rejoicing” in the wealth of the Celtic Tiger will not be the ones to suffer now that the country is in recession.

Archbishop Martin said he did not think a recession was a good thing, even if led to less materialism in the country, and those who indulged in reckless lending during the good years will be better able to cope with the recession than others who did not cause the crisis across the world.

“I don’t rejoice in a recession because I believe it is the weakest who pay the heaviest price,” he said.

“The danger in a recession is that the greedy suffer less than those who have been working hard, doing their tasks and looking after their families,” he said. “In any country, if you have a bad healthcare and education system, it is the poor who go to it. The wealthy can go elsewhere and provide it for themselves privately”.

Archbishop Martin said he felt sad that “an Ireland that is less prosperous is trying to address the problems that Ireland should have addressed when it was more prosperous”.

He urged the Government to prioritise the spending of health and education in the next budget, saying cutting either back would be counterproductive in the long-term. “You end up in a situation where you started before with the same imbalances in the way we have been spending money on healthcare and by cutting you might increase that imbalance,” he said.

“Everybody sees that the money we had in the past is not there. We can’t generate money out of nowhere, but you have to look at how you spend the money today in such a way that we come out better prepared and better equipped to face the future.

“The quality of education and healthcare are just as important as any other type of infrastructure such as roads and telecommunications. In the long term, the quality of those who are going to contribute to the creativity of the future of Ireland is extremely important”.

The archbishop said the global credit crisis illustrated the need for a capitalist model which was fairer, but it was up to economist and not moralists like clergymen to provide the answer. He said that big Government had a tendency to be corrupt and arrogant in the same manner that business people, who are unchecked by Government regulation, can behave in an irresponsible manner.

“It is possible to introduce greater equity into the capitalist system, but you have to set out to do it. It is up to economists to respond to this challenge and recognise that growth with huge inequalities is less sustainable than growth with a more equitable system.

“There is a constant pressure to reduce the intervention of Government. You do run the danger of leaving governments no longer in a situation where it can react when a serious crisis might emerge”.