Sir, - Fintan O'Toole's article (December 6th) on the proposed give-away of third mobile phone licences was yet another stark illustration of the truly nasty nature of this Government. Its actions are entirely consistent with the imperatives of neo-liberal economics that drive its policies.
Tight regulation of workers' pay is one such imperative. Another more or less compels the State to put the interests of business above the interests of all other sectors of society. The Government's actions in this matter are confirmation.
Mr O'Toole suggests that almost £2 billion could be raised from an auction of third generation licences. Any state even remotely interested in the welfare of all its citizens would grasp such a revenue-raising opportunity with both hands. That this Government prefers to forgo the £2 billion, to effectively pass it on as a subsidy to the eventual recipients of the licences, raises serious questions about how it perceives the country's needs.
As the Government well knows, there is a plethora of community development projects, charities, voluntary groups etc., that could have benefited from the windfall potential of an auction for third generation mobile phone licences. Why it chooses not to exploit this once-off opportunity to really fund these vital services is a mystery. Paying lip service to notions of social inclusion and the community sector is not sufficient; concrete funding commitments are needed. Shamefully the Government prefers to blindly follow ideology and facilitate the enrichment of a tiny number of telecoms "entrepreneurs" rather than divert much needed funding to important parts of our collective social services. - Yours, etc.,
Ciaran Mc Kenna, Clanbrassil Street, Dublin 8.