THE MARKETPLACE for ideas in Ireland has not always been thronged. But that is changing now. Having suffered one of the most severe recessions and banking crises ever experienced by a developed state, a growing number of individuals and groups are setting out their stalls, offering ideas on how we can be made to function more effectively and equitably, how our institutions can be made more efficient and accountable and how our economy can be stabilised and returned to growth. The putting forward of ideas is to be welcomed. More debate and discussion is healthy, not least in squeezing out complacency and preventing groupthink.
This week a group of 17 individuals stood up to be counted. All are people of no little achievement – in politics, business and the public sector. Their “Blueprint for Ireland’s Recovery” is meaty. But in setting the agenda and wielding influence, timing is crucial, and the release of the group’s proposals was ill-timed. Written before the election and not updated to take account of its outcome, the blueprint appears out of date – many of its suggestions are included in the programme for government and others have clearly been rejected by the Coalition partners.
But despite this, the document enriches the debate. It proposes reforms to political structures and the public sector, but it has most to say on how economic recovery can be engineered. The group of 17 advocates the sale of both main retail banks and an active role for the State in the establishment of a “third force” in banking. Other small open economies have abandoned the pretence of national ownership of banks and suffered no ill effects.
The group also proposed a ramping up of the private sector’s internship programmes. Although not without their own difficulties, such measures must be attempted. This week’s grim news on youth unemployment served only to reinforce the point. More than one in three 15-19 year-olds who wants to work cannot find employment. Joblessness among the young on this scale cannot be tolerated.
But while many worthy suggestions are made on creating employment promotions, the authors’ claim that their proposals, if implemented, would create 200,000 jobs undermines the document’s credibility. Politicians are rightly derided when they pluck job creation figures from the air in this way. It is no less derisory when groups of private individuals do it.
There has been some negative reaction to the space given to the proposals from an elite group of business and politicial individuals in The Irish Timesin recent days. Their blueprint was published because readers have the right to know. The judgment on the document is a different matter. Not all among the group covered themselves in glory during the boom years but freedom of speech is a right enjoyed by every citizen of this State. Its exercise should be encouraged, not questioned. The focus instead should be on the merit or otherwise of their proposals. In this respect, it should be remembered that Ireland is a country, not just an economy.