The other questions - Economy is not the only pressing issue

IT is inevitable that the economy is the dominant issue in the election campaign — how could it be otherwise?

Nevertheless the 30th Dáil slipped into the past without addressing questions that will have to be resolved. Even if you put taxation and service cuts to one side for a moment — oh that we could — there are a good number of issues on the public radar for years that have avoided resolution through convenience or indifference.

Just yesterday the United Nations reported that world food prices hit a record high in January and that extraordinary weather events could put yet more pressure on food prices, an issue that has contributed to violent protests across the Middle East.

We may imagine ourselves immune but we are not, and though it may be good news for some producers it has already hit Irish consumers in the pocket.

Last year we exported food worth just over €8 billion but we imported food worth €2.99bn from Britain or the North alone so our vulnerability is obvious.

So much of modern agriculture is about turning oil into food that we must urgently look too to our extremely vulnerable position on energy dependence.

Despite former Minister Eamon Ryan’s enthusiastic and determined promotion of renewable energy sources we still import about 90% of our energy.

In an ever more volatile world, and as the Middle East staggers towards some sort of day-to-day anarchy, we need to secure alternative sources.

It would be wonderful if renewable sources, especially wind, could replace some imported energy, but it will be some time before we can be certain about these technologies. For the moment we must pursue a parallel policy of developing renewables but persisting with proven methods.

This is a more pressing issue than might be immediately imagined as there are suggestions that our IMF rescue deal is dependent on selling off State assets if a buyer can be found for them.

Apart at all, if this suggestion is acted upon, from the outrageous decision of our last Government to consider selling off what is not theirs to sell we would be foolish not to ask about what implications the privatisation of the ESB might have for that organisation’s commitment to reducing energy imports, its carbon footprint and promoting renewable energy. It must have cost implications for business and consumers too.

We should be equally vigilant about water supplies, which when metered will become an attractive commercial proposition, and demand that anyone looking for our vote realise that some things, certainly not utilities, are just not for sale.

A plethora of horrific reports have shown how very vulnerable children placed in care can be. Despite this, and despite repeated reassurances to the contrary over the last decade, child protection legislation has not been enacted.

In recent days the terrible dilemma facing so many construction sector sub-contractors left high and dry by developers has been highlighted again. Thousands of small business have been destroyed because the issue has been ignored by legislators for decades. The same could be said of our arcane bankruptcy laws.

How reassuring it would be if EU directives on pension protection had been implemented as they are in most other European countries. Shamefully, there are hundreds of retired or redundant workers right around the country paying a very high price for this neglect.

How important it is too that the absurd, immoral situation where rents can only be reviewed upwards persists. This is loading the dice in an unacceptable, almost criminal way and must be brought to an end.

There is the great unmentionable — abortion — which has been restored to centre stage. The role of the Catholic church in education and access to third- and fourth-level education are issues that will become more and more important. If that wasn’t enough to wear out the most enthusiastic canvasser there is the huge and increasingly divisive issue of climate change.

There is a disconcerting and recurring theme in most of these issues. Legislation that might strand between individuals and big business have great difficulty reaching the statute books. If a Government is not for this then what is it for? If a society is not prepared to protect the individuals that make it up then it has not got much of a future. These issues, and many more like them, point to a weakness that would not be found in a strong society. Though politicians will talk about the economy it is not the only thing that matters. Do not let them hide behind the issue and get answers on all of the issues concerning you. Strike while the iron is hot.