Sir, – A. Leavy dismisses critics of the so-called "austerity" agenda as engaging in an "emotional propaganda campaign" (August 18th).
The reality is that, for vast swathes of the population, this agenda has resulted in them being left financially depleted. They can be forgiven for feeling a little miffed and, therefore, emotional about this.
The austerity agenda is nothing more than a power-and-cash grab by the elite at the expense of the remainder of citizens; an acceleration of a process which has been ongoing for over three decades now. Mr Leavy paints his interpretation of events to be “truth” while those who point out the illogicality, ineffectuality and iniquity of this austerity agenda are “emotional” and dealing in “trivia”.
Mr Leavy’s stance implies that there was, and is, no alternative to this cruel agenda. That is patent nonsense.
The idea that failure to implement this economic regime would result in us ending up in the way of Greece is simplistic. Austerity’s appalling and unnecessary results are there in front of us for all to see; soup kitchen queues, increased homelessness and children living in B&Bs.
Overall, poverty and wealth discrepancy has accelerated in the last decade.
A 1987 ERSI study’s results pointed out that the elite, the country’s top 10 per cent of earners owned 42 per cent of the country’s wealth, while the bottom 50 per cent of earners shared between them just over 12 per cent. Iniquitous enough, one might think.
However, in 2016, the top 10 per cent own almost 54 per cent of Ireland’s wealth, while the bottom 50 per cent own only 5 per cent today.
The top 20 per cent across the euro area own over 67 per cent of the wealth. These are facts, not emotion.
Such statistics, published by bodies such as the ERSI and CSO, are freely available for public perusal.
In Ireland, almost a quarter of earners (23 per cent) are on a wage just above the minimum, which is one of the highest rates in the OECD.
Basic essentials are denied to earners on a minimum wage of €9.15 per hour.
Workers on the ladders of society that would have been able to afford to buy a property of their own as recently as a couple of decades ago are now looking at a pipedream.
None of this happened by accident. It was deliberate policy courtesy of the same mentality that applauds and supports austerity.
Eventually, the wealthy in society will have to concede some of their portion of GDP to the remainder.
Failure to do so will only result in increased societal unrest and increase the growing tendency for citizens of western democracies to seek solace from less mainstream political entities because the route taken by the mainstream is offering only more of the same. – Yours, etc,
JD MANGAN,
Stillorgan,
Co Dublin.