The PDs meet in conference this weekend. Mary Harney defends the party's record in government
Some people say it doesn't matter who's in government. They say there are no big differences in policies now. They expect that the next government, whoever is in it, will follow more or less the same policies. The country will continue on, more or less successfully, they think.
I don't agree. It matters a great deal to a great many people's jobs and prosperity whether the country is more or less successful. And why should we opt for less success when we can have more?
The country cannot, and will not, run itself: neither the Civil Service, the social partners, nor the EU can or will take the key decisions for Ireland over the next five years. Only our democratically elected Government will. And it can only do so on the basis of the mandate it gets for its policies in the next general election.
Political leadership matters. I have never accepted the cynical view that that all politics are more or less the same. And I believe the Progressive Democrats have provided proof of that over the past five years.
In the Progressive Democrats, our priorities in Government were to address the big challenges of overcoming unemployment and emigration. We implemented tax cuts to generate jobs and opportunity, with spectacular results: 400,000 new jobs in the Republic, an end to forced emigration, a big reduction in poverty by creating jobs.
We sought the £100 weekly pension and achieved £116 (€147). We achieved record house-building of over 200,000 new houses, social housing as well as private housing. We dramatically reduced long-term unemployment to below 25,000.
These are some of the wide-ranging achievements for which this Government collectively shares the credit. But it is crystal clear that a government with different coalition partners would not have pursued the same policies.
Paradoxically, it is our harshest political critics who recognise this most often. They're right: the Progressive Democrats have had a major policy influence in Government. And, I would add, a major influence for the good of the people of the country.
Going forward, our policy priorities will again be for the big challenges facing the country. We believe in addressing issues of scale. That means sustaining jobs and ensuring new job-creation; distributing success across all regions with infrastructure investment; opening up new services for consumers; tackling crime and encouraging active citizens in vibrant and safe communities.
In advance of a general election, there is no point in dangling promises before the electorate for small-scale things that can be done in a matter of months. Auction politics is not just vote-buying, it is also quick fix politics.
The mandate we will seek at this general election will be for five years of policy-making, not five months of cheque-writing.
As ever, we will base ground our approach to solutions on our core convictions:
- keeping tax low and work incentives high;
- promoting competition in the consumer interest;
- allowing individuals, communities and businesses the freedom to shape their own futures;
- minimising the role of the State in commercial enterprise;
- ensuring public accountability and effective public services;
- investing in education for opportunity.
These are our policy roots, our unshakeable radical base. They ground everything we do. Our radical commitment will be to hold to them, without dilution and without wavering.
When we founded the Progressive Democrats 16 years ago, the problems facing the country were acute - mass unemployment, crumbling State finances, forced emigration, national despair. We have solved them. We have now built a solid platform for progress. To safeguard and sustain that progress requires not the same actions as before, but certainly the same convictions guiding policy.
This is a great time for Ireland. We have shown what can be achieved when opportunity is opened up and rewarded, and when we embrace new solutions.
People are confident, as never before. There's a willingness to give things a go, to work hard for achievement.
It gives the lie to the idea that we have simply had a once-off boom and that our fate is to return to some sort of mediocrity. For sure, there are parties with policies who could make that our fate. But we can secure prosperity and progress for the future if we choose the right policies, if we maintain our confidence, and if we stay grounded in our convictions.
We are prosperous, self-reliant and confident of the future as never before. Let's keep it that way.
Mary Harney is Tánaiste and leader of the Progressive Democrats