Madam, – When I vote in a general election I do not write an essay on each candidate. There is a paper with a box and I tick it.
Can we apply the same principle to the plan to involve the major political parties in the four-year budget plan required by the EU? The parties have agreed to reduce the deficit to 3 per cent by 2014.
A simple spreadsheet with income and expenditure headings and explanatory notes to ensure consistent interpretation of terms could be designed by the Department of Finance and published. Each party could be asked to fill in the boxes adding up to say €4 billion cuts for 2011, etc.
I realise the accuracy and simplicity of this communication process might be frightening for some, but it is preferable to doing it under the thumb of the IMF as may be the case if we cannot agree a plan. – Yours, etc,