FG, Labour must come clean on money matters

NOW that the election date has been set, it is time for the Irish public to make a serious effort to vote intelligently.

It is right and proper that Fianna Fáil is held to account for all its failures in government and for its role in causing the mess Ireland is now in.

But, while Fine Gael and Labour cannot be blamed for the failure of governance over the last 14 years, they can be judged on the issues that they do have control over. Issues such as their secrecy over how they are funded and the fact not one single elected representative, for either party, provides receipts for the expenses they claim. How many Fine Gael and Labour TDs own houses in Dublin, with no mortgage, but continue to claim accommodation costs, how many own the building where they rent their constituency offices, how many take the train but claim travel costs, why is it so many TDs, despite living in completely different parts of the country, manage to claim the exact same amount in expenses to the cent?

Fine Gael produced a New Politics policy document which does not once mention politicians pay, pensions or perks, even though it has something to say on every other aspect of government. It is precisely the complete disconnect between the political class and reality that is the root cause of Ireland’s problems and why there is a total lack of trust in the political system. But Fine Gael has nothing to say on that issue.

Furthermore, the New Politics policy published by Fine Gael states on page 28 that it will publish audited accounts from 2010 and, yet it is almost February 2011, with no sign of those accounts. Let’s also not forget the stink of hypocrisy when the “socialist” Labour Party leader claimed the obscene amounts paid to his wife, for a bit of bog, had nothing to do with him.

Therefore, there must be some doubt whether Fine Gael or Labour have the actual will, if not the ability, to implement the scale of reform needed in Ireland, when they have failed so clearly to provide an example on the matters they did have control over.

Desmond FitzGerald

Canary Wharf

London