One more chance to achieve our social goals

YOUR report headlined ‘Ireland warned property slump looming’ only tells part of the story (Irish Examiner, August 8).

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) statement pointed out that a number of its directors “saw less merit in fiscal tightening at the current juncture, pointing to the need for further increases in spending to achieve social goals”.

Following in the footsteps of numerous EU, UN and OECD reports, we have reached an interesting point when even the International Monetary Fund has to remind us of the importance of social investment.

It is easy to forget that the famous ‘giveaway budgets’ of the late 1970s and early 1980s mainly gave to the well-off, with little social spending.

When the spending spree was over, the poor and those reliant on public services were made to pay for the cuts. With better planning and different priorities (and a little hindsight), we could now have world class social and public services and still have avoided the budgetary crisis.

If we compare Ireland’s childcare, social housing, education, transport, welfare and health services, for those who cannot afford to ‘go private’, with most continental European countries, we can see the impact of low priority and poor investment over decades.

The forthcoming national action plan on inclusion (due out in September) and the seven-year, €100 billion national development plan provide an opportunity for the Government to show how this investment can be delivered.

The main issue is not how much we spend, but how we spend it, and who benefits.

Robin Hanan

European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) Ireland

5 Gardiner Row

Dublin 1