Sir, – Una Mullally gets a lot right when she writes about the decline in support for Fine Gael ("Burned by Fine Gael's neoliberalism, the electorate is shifting left",Opinion & Analysis, December 13th).
She is correct that much of this decline represents anger at the Government more than an attraction to Sinn Féin. She is also correct that what has become Fine Gael’s primary offering, namely not being Sinn Féin, is losing effectiveness in maintaining voter support.
However, she is wrong when she attributes this to “radical neoliberalism” on the part of Fine Gael.
Since Fine Gael took full control of public finances, spending has increased substantially. In 2014, the year after Ireland exited the bailout programme, the budgets for the Department of Education and the Department of Health were €8.8 billion and €13.7 billion respectively. By 2019, these had grown to €10.9 billion and €17.5 billion. Spending on the Department of Housing, Community and Local Government more than quadrupled over those five years.
Total spending in 2019 was €77 billion, compared to €70.5 billion in 2014. The cost of servicing our national debt also fell significantly in this period, meaning the increase in expenditure across other areas was even greater than those headline figures suggest.
Total expenditures for 2021 and 2022 sit close to €100 billion per year, but even before the pandemic, public expenditure dwarfed levels seen at the height of the economic boom in the mid-2000s.
The idea that the past decade has been one of “radical neoliberalism” is plainly contradicted by public spending figures.
We spend more now than ever. It is this that makes salient failures on issues such as housing and the healthcare system so damaging to Government parties.
To begin with the premise that these failures are the result of spendthrift policies is not accurate. It also tends to lead to the conclusion that all we need to solve these problems is someone who will commit to raising more taxes and spending more money.
Whoever the next taoiseach is, they would do well to question such logic. – Yours, etc,
CHARLIE CREGAN,
Ballsbridge,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – Una Mullally’s article befits the current mainstream media’s obsession with Sinn Féin and the lack of any critical analysis of the daily populist rhetoric we are subjected to from senior members of that party.
Unlike Government representatives, who are challenged vigorously (and correctly so) on a range of policy issues on radio and TV, we are daily presented with alternatives from Sinn Féin that satisfy public appetite but are at best vague, lack any detail and largely go unchallenged.
I look forward to a time when, faced with the likelihood of that party entering government, the electorate is presented with a critical analysis and detailed synopsis of Sinn Féin policies. – Yours, etc,
JOE BYRNE,
Saggart,
Co Dublin.