Spending cuts - Government weaves a tangled web

MOST independent observers now predict that the Government will end up with a deficit at the end of the current year, because tax returns are running well below the budget predictions, while government spending is running ahead of projections. The ESRI is predicting that the deficit will be in the region of €900m.

The Government projected a 14.5% increase in expenditure this year, but in the first six months, it was running at 23%. If it is to meet its targets, it will have to cut back on spending or introduce higher revenue charges.

They have already cut back on the drug refund scheme, as people not on medical cards have to pay more on prescription drugs.

The Voluntary Health Insurance Board’s charges have gone up, and the accident and emergency fee has been increased by 25%, while college registration fees have risen dramatically by 70%.

The Government has a serious problem in explaining the manner in which it has been reneging on its election promises, as it comes under extensive pressure, especially from the health care sector, where there is industrial unrest among psychiatric workers, nurses and junior doctors.

In the area of education, the row over the payment for supervision continues, while the Government is being criticised from various sides for having deliberately deceived the electorate.

There is mounting evidence of a cynical plan of deception on the part of the Government.

The case has become so compelling that Minister of State Willie O’Dea seemed almost ready to acknowledge the situation yesterday, as he tried to justify the deception on the grounds that others were also complicit.

“If the Government deceived the electorate before the general election they had a lot of accessories in that deception,” he argued.

It is the Government’s role to lead, and the members of the Cabinet must, therefore, accept full responsibility for their policies, which pumped up expectations.

The opposition parties can justify their previous proposals on the grounds that they were deliberately deceived by the Government about the true financial position.

Fine Gael deputy leader Richard Bruton contended yesterday that his party’s proposals were based on the belief that the Government’s budget projections were sound.

As late as three days before the general election, the minister for finance provided a formal assurance to the Fine Gael leader that “no significant overruns” were projected and that “no cutbacks whatever are being, secretly or otherwise” planned.

At the same time, the minister confirmed health spending plans and emphasised that no cutbacks were “being planned or implemented.”

Now the Western Health Board (WHB) is insisting that it is being compelled to axe jobs to meet the budget cuts being demanded.

The WHB is accusing Health Minister Micheál Martin and his department of trying to scapegoat the board for the job cuts. Both sides are playing politics with the issue.

The minister contends that the cuts could be implemented by not filling 85 vacant positions, while the WHB is insisting on filling those positions and cutting some 200 temporary and part-time workers instead.

Prior to the election the government was claiming a 27% cut in the crime rate, whereas the figures published since the election show a dramatic rise in crime and public order offences are spiralling.

It would seem that the need for extra gardaí is greater than ever, but will the Minister for Justice get the extra 2,000 officers promised before the general election?

The Government has only itself to blame if it is now snared in its own tangled web of cynical promises.