Little change we can believe in

IT appears extra cuts will be made to the ordinary working peoples’ income, by increasing VAT, a regressive tax that hurts the poorest the most and hardly hurts the well-off at all.

It’s also claimed an €8 cut in the dole and a €10 cut in child benefit is being discussed, although no budget decisions have been made, and the Labour Party leaders could only support these cuts by breaking their pre-election promise.

Whether or which, one thing is sure: Ordinary working people, including some of the most vulnerable, are still being made to cover the gambling losses of wealthy people who operate in the world of international finance and pay for the incompetence and greed of those who wrecked the economy. The Government chose to make those who have paid the most already, pay again. An income tax increase would be much fairer because the more you earn, the more you pay (not counting legal tax avoidance possibilities that wealthy people may have).

Sinn Féin recently proposed that those earning over €100,000 a year should pay tax at rate of 48%. This, and indeed any income tax increase was immediately ruled out by the Government. Why? Enda Kenny said it would prevent jobs being created. Really? Are wealthy people creating jobs now on their present tax rate? Apparently, not. Brendan Howlin said that people would take their money out of the country if income taxed increased. There is a simple answer to this, let them move their money out but take 50% of it in tax before it goes.

Judging by the experience so far, unlike the majority of people, the really wealthy people won’t be making much of a financial contribution at all to Ireland’s recovery, at least not in relation to their income and wealth, as compared with the income and wealth of the majority of people.

In Ireland’s horrible situation, shouldn’t a maximum salary of €80,000 and a pension of €50,000 be enough for anyone, especially when the poor could gain from it? If governments continue to pamper the rich, and rely on the free-market to satisfy all human needs, then even if the country does recover to some degree as a result of Government/EU/IMF policies of protecting global finance, and benefiting the billionaires by facilitating the movement of wealth from ordinary people to the ultra-rich, not least by privatising public assets, nothing much will have changed, especially not under dominant neoliberal EU. Neoliberalism will still be the preferred ideology amongst the wealthy and political elites, and individualism and the greed that latches onto it will still be there to create the same disasters in the future that Ireland is suffering now. Ireland was promised real change. Shouldn’t Ireland be demanding to know when a real change is coming and what that change will be?

Brian Abbott

Glencairn

Bishopstown Road

Cork