Battle over services or pay resumes in public finances cycle

IN this society, where power is bought by politicians promising the unaffordable, principle plays second fiddle to the rolling auction needed to secure and retain power. 

There is, as yet, no suggestion that any party has decided that this unsustainable swizz — at the level of taxes paid to the exchequer today — should be replaced with something that does not look like post-factual economics. And who can blame them? We all play a predictable, unwavering role in this set piece. Any party brave enough to campaign on the basis of balancing the books on day-to-day spending would be banished to oblivion. The fleeting, almost illusory power offered by demand democracy has seduced us to such an extent that our public administration is permanently held to ransom.

Irish Water and the solid argument behind its establishment and funding runs may become another monument to our refusal to accept that, apart from the grace of God, nothing in this life is free. Water services, or at least minimal, patched up water services, will be paid for one way or another but some other pressing need will go unanswered. That either-or principle applies right across all public finances. That a significant number of people regard the disembowelling of Irish Water as a victory for fairness just perpetuates this foolish culture.