‘Saving a few euro today could prove very costly tomorrow’

DEAR MINISTER,

In fact, it looks like we are facing into four to five years of more cuts and higher taxes to pay for the bank bailout.

I don’t envy you your job, I believe you are, at heart, a decent man, and I appreciate that your decisions are designed to reassure financial markets that Ireland can reduce its spiralling debt costs.

But while you are sharpening your axe, how about considering another kind of reassurance for those who never profited from the Celtic Tiger years and who are now desperately trying to make ends meet? Please remember that for every profiteer, banker, market trader, property speculator and so-called “developer”, there are hundreds of thousands of Irish people for whom the boom years meant little. For example:

* Those who have been living on state pensions for the past few years could never have afforded to dabble on the stock market, so why should they have to pay for its collapse?

* Thousands of our stay-at-home carers sacrificed well-paid careers to nurture and cherish their loved ones, so is it fair they should suffer even great indignity by cutting social welfare payments which you have already slashed by almost 4%?

* Young couples who scrimped and saved to buy a house now find their sole asset is effectively worthless, so how can they be expected to share an even heavier burden if mortgage interest relief is abolished?

* Children with special needs need treatment, so how can you justify cutting home tuition hours?

* Returned immigrants and those who have lost businesses cannot get the dole so, minister, what are they expected to live on?

* As a result of your last budget, medical card holders must now pay prescription charges, a measure introduced yesterday by the HSE. This will hurt especially those with long-term illnesses. Is it fair that people who clearly cannot afford health insurance should be made pay from very limited resources? nThe half million people on the dole did not bring that plight on themselves, they were casualties of greed – a greed so pervasive in certain circles that it sowed the seed of our destruction. What can you now offer those who cannot even afford a hairshirt, let alone wear one? You may say, Minister, that those with a job may consider themselves lucky but, in fact, one in three households at risk of poverty is headed by a person with a job. If you consider that to be overstating matters, consider what Social Justice Ireland director Fr Seán Healy told the Oireachtas committee on social protection two weeks ago. “One in three households at risk of poverty is headed by a person with a job,” Fr Healy said, when he outlined a proposal to make tax credits refundable to benefit the “working poor”.

It would cost in the order of €140 million. That may sound a lot but – just to put it into perspective – it is, in fact, €10m less than the personal liabilities of the former Anglo Irish Bank chairman, Sean FitzPatrick.

Fr Healy told your Oireachtas colleagues that 113,000 people on low incomes would benefit from the proposed measure and when children and other adults living in households were taken into account, the number of beneficiaries would grow to 240,000. Just think about it Minister: you could remove almost one quarter of a million people from the brink of poverty for €140m – it sounds like a bargain, to me.

If that doesn’t convince you, consider the appeal by the Conference of Religious in Ireland (CORI) to protect the most vulnerable in society. According to CORI, the “working poor” desperately need your compassion. Households at risk of poverty have incomes less than €19,000 for an adult couple or less than €26,400 for a household of two adults and two children – not exactly Sean FitzPatrick territory.

While you are at it, consider the plight of our senior citizens. You will be old yourself, one day, Minister, so it might be a good idea to reflect on what Eamon Timmins, head of advocacy and communications for Age Action Ireland, has to say: “We recognise that Brian Lenihan has an economic responsibility on budget day, but he also has a responsibility to protect the most vulnerable in society. For the many thousands of older people who are dependent on state pensions, every extra they have to pay makes their situation even more difficult. The carbon tax, for instance, has already meant it costs more to heat their homes. Mr Lenihan should be reminded that between 1,500 and 2,000 older people already die every year in Ireland from cold related illnesses. It is ironic that as we celebrate the UN International Day of Older People today, our elderly are facing even higher fuel and electricity charges. Mr Lenihan cannot walk away from his responsibility to older people.”

Those at the other end of the age spectrum are equally vulnerable, Minister. The children’s charity Barnardos recently revealed the rising costs of education for parents and children struggling in the recession. In a survey issued by the organisation, the majority of survey respondents (58%) experienced an increase in the amount they have had to spend on school books this year compared with 2009. This corresponds with recent Consumer Price Index figures which showed that although overall prices were lower by 1.1% compared with May 2009, the cost of education saw a yearly increase of 9.1%.

According to Fergus Finlay, Barnardos’ chief executive, it is imperative, Minister, that you take this into account when considering your budget. Families who are dependent on social welfare or low incomes absolutely cannot afford any cuts to their income or to supports for their children’s education. “Children’s futures cannot be sacrificed to the recession,” says Mr Finlay, who believes that in recessionary times it is perhaps even more important we look to the education of our future generations.

Those parents of special needs children are already reeling from the decision by the Department of Education to cut specialist home tuition hours for those signed up for the free preschool year under the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme.

The chief executive of autism charity Shine Ireland, Kieran Kennedy, says that some parents have also been warned that, if they are receiving physical therapies from the HSE, such as guaranteed sessional physiotherapy and occupational therapy programmes, this, too, could affect their entitlement to the ECCE.

That is not only heartless but brainless. Home tuition hours are given to children who have been diagnosed as needing one-on-one help to develop basic skills such as communication and task completion. This will help them learn skills that could lead to good employment when they become adults. Saving a few euro today, Minister, could prove very costly tomorrow if those children grow up to become an economic burden on the state because they failed to reach their potential as a result of this decision.

Spare a thought, too, for carers, the thousands of unsung heroes who give their all with love and compassion. Your Government has already introduced a blanket 3.9% cut to social welfare payments to all carers.

This equates to a reduction of €8.50 per week or €442 a year for carers in receipt of the carers allowance. That might not seem a lot but, to misquote the Tesco advert: Every Little Hurts.

Family carers are the only social welfare recipients who have to work for their payment by providing full-time care in the home to older people, those sick and disabled and have already suffered a 2% decrease in welfare payments due to the abolishment of the Christmas bonus.

The Carers Association says that the cut to welfare payments for family carers will be the last straw for many who are not in a position to seek alternative sources of income due to their caring roles and, in the worst cases, will force carers to put relatives and family into state care. This goes against stated government policy of caring for people in their own homes for as long as possible and proves the Government’s misunderstanding of the sciences of false economy.

As you make your decisions Minister, perhaps you might consider the wise words of the former American vice president, Hubert Humphrey: “The moral test of a government is how it treats those who are at the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those who are in the shadow of life, the sick and the needy, and the handicapped.”

You might also reflect on the extent to which your Government facilitated the current crisis by pondering the even wiser words of the Chinese philosopher, Confucious: “In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.”