Sir, – Your editorial of June 6th (“Too early to relax on budgets) makes a positive reference to the willingness of trade unions to persevere in the correction of Ireland’s public finances.
For the record I should make it clear that, while we have from the onset of the crisis recognised the need to rebalance the public finances, we believed that the adjustment should have been scheduled over a longer period. Our reasoning was that growth should have been allowed a greater part in the heavy lifting needed to achieve balance.
The social cost of the austerity policies of the troika has been extreme.
Moreover, the policy has largely failed, as can be seen from the fact that Europe’s growth rate in the first quarter of this year is just 0.2 per cent. The belated action of the ECB to stimulate the euro zone economy and ward off deflation is welcome, but an admission of the failure of austerity nonetheless.
The problem of debt – sovereign, business and personal – remains a significant drag on growth at a domestic level. Deflation poses a major risk in this respect. Europe must be made to honour the commitments given to the Taoiseach at the European Council in June 2012, namely to sever the link between banking and sovereign debt. Unless this is done, growth may not, because of the disastrous policies of the troika, reach a level necessary to allow Ireland achieve debt sustainability in the medium term. – Yours, etc,
DAVID BEGG,
General Secretary,
Irish Congress
of Trade Unions,
Parnell Square, Dublin 1.