Economic crisis - Empty promises

Recent public opinion polls have provided a clear indication of the public disillusionment at the way the government has been handling the economy. This was further reinforced by the turnout of more than 100,000 people at the protest march in Dublin on Saturday.

The march was called to protest against the pension levy, but the levy was hardly mentioned during the rally. The gathering obviously had a broad range of grievances.

Marchers were from both public and private sectors. Some, such as workers from SR Technics and Waterford Glass, were there to protest at the loss of their jobs.

The Government issued a statement justifying its actions as necessary and fair, but ministers are deluding themselves if they think it is fair to pick on the soft targets — children, pensioners and the sick.

Cuts are inevitably going to be painful, but people are crying out for proper leadership. Politicians taking a 10% cut in their expenses is as cynical as it is insulting.

If they took a 40% cut they would still be gaining more than their real expenses.

The growing disillusionment is not just with the Government, but also with some of the vacuous protestations from opposition benches. To the honest workers who have lost their jobs, the assertion of the opposition deputy who “can’t afford” a cut in his salary of e110,000 is as insulting as the empty ministerial protestation about sharing the pain.