Hello and welcome to our Ireland South European Election web page! If you've made it this far than you can't be having much difficulty navigating the site, however if there are any improvements or additions you can suggest please feel free to let us know.
The purpose of this blog is to allow you access to me to discuss any issue of importance to you or any recommendations you have for the campaign. I'll try to respond in a reasonable time, however juggling a baby, work and an election campaign, I can't always guarantee that my definition of reasonable will reflect yours!
To get the ball rolling here's something I'd like to discuss with you...........
In these tough economic times it's more important than ever that we stand together. So I'm particularly disappointed with the way both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are trying to divide the workers of Ireland and sow division between the public and the private sector.
For the last six months we have had a flood of stories about public servants fattening themselves on the back of the Irish tax payer. Behind the media campaign lies a determination by employers to exploit the downturn to drive down wages for both public and private sector workers.
Last week the propaganda paid off and last week when the government announced what is in effect a 6% pay cut for the public sector. What is worse, the way the levy is implemented discriminates against low- and middle-income public servants. A worker on €20,000 will sacrifice almost the same percentage of their income as someone on €300,000.
At almost the same time, it was revealed in the Dáil that landlords get €1.4 billion worth of tax relief each year. Meanwhile the government is preparing to hand €7 billion in taxpayer's money to the banks that had a big hand in causing this mess - with few meaningful guarantees for mortgage holders or small businesses strapped for cash.
Ordinary workers, in public and private sectors alike, are now paying the price for the recklessness of bankers and property developers who fuelled an unsustainable property boom, and for a government that was asleep at the wheel. Workers should not allow themselves to be set against another. Rather, workers in all sectors need to unite against those who want to use these difficult times an excuse to slash hard-fought for wages and conditions for all.
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