Sir, – The announcements made in relation to the series of cuts and charges being considered by Government are alarming (Front page, November 23rd).
In honouring the commitment in the programme for government to “act speedily to reduce costs”, Government must ensure that cuts do not have a detrimental impact on the most vulnerable.
This Government was elected partly because of its rejection of the idea “that society should be divided into the haves and have nots”. It promised to treat all citizens equally, and to put an end to the two-tier health system. The list of proposed charges will only serve to reinforce inequalities that they had so strongly criticised, by penalising those who have not, and further undermining the right to health.
Good healthcare reform will take time, and the Government has made bold and welcome commitments in that regard. However Fine Gael and Labour have been in government for eight months, yet cannot provide any greater indication of the timing of the initial step, the White Paper on Financing Universal Health Insurance, other than that it will be within the current term of office.
I urge Minister for Health James Reilly to reconsider these proposed health cuts.
Penalising the vulnerable will not bring about the kind of health reform that this Government was elected to deliver. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – I find it bizarre and extremely worrying that in a time of dire economic circumstances our TDs in Dáil Éireann on pay scales of €2,500 per week are proposing to reduce those “on or below the poverty line” by €2.50 child benefit per week and €8 per week social welfare. Is this how we will recover our great economic fortunes: by depriving a child of the price of a loaf of bread and a litre of milk? Most, if not all of our elected representatives claim to have a social conscience. How can a conscience honestly reconcile itself with 90,000 children living in constant poverty and then consider means to increase that suffering and add more children to the list?
“The” banks, not “our” banks needed to be bailed out, “the” bondholders need to be paid back with raided pension funds; our social funds now lost to us, providing nothing but profits to rich investors.
Suffer, indeed, little children for they do not carry a big enough stick, nor shall those who were elected to protect them deliver on their hollow rhetoric and empty promises. Not a penny more? To whom? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I see that some breads are now to be considered less worthy than others.
The French stick, German pumpernickel, brown, soda, and pitta breads are deemed to be good and wholesome and are to be unmolested by the threatened new VAT increase. But the poor bagel; the staple bread of Jewish communities throughout the world, including Ireland; is being singled out for its luxurious and unessential nature. Can this be fought on the grounds that it is blatant discrimination against an ethnic minority? Since anti semitism is a crime in this country, can the new proposed VAT increase on breads be introduced? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The recent budget leak detailing Michael Noonan’s intention to raise VAT to 23 per cent while at the same time pledging to leave income tax unchanged is disquieting. Any student of Leaving Cert economics will confirm that high rates of indirect taxes, such as VAT, place a disproportionate burden on the poor and are therefore inequitable.
Why has no one suggested introducing a new income tax rate to require those on the highest incomes to pay higher taxes? A new rate of between 55 per cent and 60 per cent for all incomes over €100,000 would raise significant revenues. Those affected would include ex-ministers on pensions, senior judges, top RTÉ personalities, bank directors and top civil servants (serving and retired).
In the majority of these cases the individuals are paid by the State and are not directly responsible for the employment of others. The genuine self-employed (who are also the employers) will simply reduce their own pay to reduce the burden of tax and retain more profits in their companies taxable at 12.5 per cent.
Politicians need not fear a backlash from the electorate as the vast majority of the population can only dream of an income of €100,000 per year. – Yours, etc,