Follow the Swedish model, but go all the way

ICTU has suggested that its recovery plan is well balanced and is based on the Swedish recovery model of the 1990s.

The Swedish solution relied first and foremost on sound public finances. This implies that real cuts in public spending must come first as a sound basis for the other actions suggested.

The other main goal of any strategy must be to restore competitiveness so that we can successfully compete in export markets with developed countries like Sweden. Public spending has been out of control since 2000. This caused prices and wages to increase in its wake. We cannot put off addressing our high cost base any longer. We can ensure wages follow prices downwards and achieve a devaluation inside the euro zone. The unions’ plan is a good start but it would have more credibility if they volunteered a contribution towards recovery. It would help if the unions could admit that they contributed to the high cost, high wage, high public spending and high waste economy we have today.

People will be more ready to pay higher taxes when they see they are actually getting value for money first. At the moment, can anyone seriously argue we have good public services for all the high public spending?

The key to a plan that gains widespread support is the order in which the various actions are carried out, ie, sound public finances first, value-for-money public service second, followed by moderate increases in tax which the economy can bear.

Ciarán Daly

Stradbrook Park

Blackrock

Co Dublin