Politics is an unpredictable business but patterns emerge from time to time. One of these is the Government response to Fine Gael policy. We publish it, they rubbish it, and a year or so later they realise we were right all along to try to copy it. It happened with benchmarking, decentralisation, the national wage agreement, quangos and Government spending.

This week, we see the same pattern re-emerging when it comes to the semi-states, or commercial state-owned companies. Over a year ago, Fine Gael produced our NewEra plan authored by Simon Coveney TD. NewEra is our plan to stimulate the economy. It involves selling some state assets to raise money to invest in modern infrastructure like broadband, bio-energy, wind and ocean power, and water infrastructure. Fianna Fáil rubbished it. They said that selling state assets would be “financially reckless”. Now they are gearing up to do exactly that.

At the centre of the NewEra plan is the big idea. The big idea is to retool the semi-states, which for years have been a drag on the economy and to transform them into engines for growth and job creation. Ireland’s economy is no longer competitive. A decade of Fianna Fáil misrule destroyed that. To create jobs and improves people’s live and incomes, our economy must become competitive again. That requires three things; reducing our costs, improving our infrastructure and reforming our public service. To improve our infrastructure, we must invest billions in broadband, green energy, water services, road and railways. But where will the money come from when the Government cannot afford to borrow anymore? Some of the money can come from the sale of state assets we do not need anymore. The ESB, Bord Gais and Bord na Móna, all generate power and own power stations. Do we really need three state-owned companies all generating electricity, owning dozens of power stations? Fine Gael doesn’t think so. We can afford to sell off some of the power generators. We can also afford to sell off some state-owned companies that operate largely overseas.

The sale of these state assets could raise billions for the Government and that money could be used to kick-start the economy through Fine Gael’s NewEra plan. But we need to do it right and that means that our support for the sale of any state assets comes with three conditions.

First, we must make sure not to repeat the mistakes of the past, namely Eircom. The Government should not sell off strategic infrastructure and should no create private monopolies in place of public ones. That means keeping the national grid (Eirgrid), ESB networks and the Bord Gais pipelines in public ownership. …[more]

With the news this week that a visit from Queen Elizabeth II may be in the offing, I have posted up below a piece I wrote on the subject of a royal visit about two years ago. It was published in the Informer, a publication which is well-worth a read.
…[more]

I’ve dedicated a portion of my site to looking at the National Debt – see the link above.

The RedC poll yesterday was very interesting.  A 7pc increase in support for Labour is huge. There are probably a number of factors behind it; their conference, the Clegg effect, maybe Croke Park and the ministerial pensions furore. The 4pc swing from SF to Labour seems a bit odd.  It could be a blip or it could be something more.  Indeed, it brings Red C more into line with what MRBI has been showing for a while. It will be interesting to see the results of the next polls from both companies. There will be another Red C in four weeks and there is usually an MRBI around June. …[more]

On Friday night I went to Leinster v Ospreys.  The match was dull but had a bit of crack afterwards. I had a quiet weekend so I managed to catch most of the Labour Conference both on TV and on the web. Gilmore made a very good speech.  He is a great orator.

The rest of the conference was strange though. Very procedural.  Lots of motions and issues kicked to touch.  Beyond that, they spent a lot of time criticising Fine Gael rhetorically and then stealing our policies when they needed a little substance. …[more]

If today’s RedC poll results were replicated in a General Election.  It would be nightmare on Lower Mount Street for Fianna Fail.  The result would be FG 72 seats, FF 45, LAB 33, SF 8, Greens 4 and Others 4 – Higgins, O’Sullivan, Lowry and Murphy.  Yes, I’ve been counting chickens again. Read on. …[more]

Tommorrow the Dail is back in session. We will hear all the usual stuff about the TDs being back from their 11 day holiday. Actually, we only missed 3 sitting days and 1 was a public holiday. With the entire government overseas, there would have been little point in sitting in plenary session on those two days. …[more]

Luttrellstown Community College is now up and running in temporary premises adjacent to Connolly Hospital. They have approx 60 children in First Year and will take 90 more in September. The school secured an entry in the Young Scientists Exhibition in the first year of its existence. This is a wonderful achievement.

As you know a site for the new school has been identified in the Kellystown/Porterstown area and we are delighted to advise you that terms have been agreed for sale of the land to the council. We are optimistic that contracts will be signed soon and this will allow for a new state-of-the-art secondary school to be built for the area.

The rezoning of the Kellystown area was controversial. Fine Gael supported it as it was the only way to secure school sites and additional open space for the area and strictly on the proviso that this would be provided before any new housing.

Last year, I became the first TD publish details of my expenses and indeed expenditure on my website. There is a public perception that expenses and allowances are some sort of tax free add-on to politician’s salaries. That is not true. While I am sure that there are some people who profit from the current expenses regime, there are probably many more that are left short.

Last April, the Oireachtas gave Brian Lenihan the power to impose a new system of expenses and allowances. He has waited too long. A new, transparent and audited system of expenses and allowances is long overdue. No change, no matter how radical will satisfy the cynics or critics. But a new system will at least allow us to stand over the system and to know in our hearts that nobody is profiting from it.

…[more]

Life on the opposition benches can be a remarkably frustrating place.  You can have all the good ideas in the world, but unless the government agrees to implement them, they just end up on a shelf somewhere gathering dust. Unfortunately, the Irish experience is that if an idea comes from the opposition benches, the government will ignore it.

That’s why I am particularly pleased with a small victory I’ve had in the area of the Small Claims Court. Last May, I launched an eighteen point plan to support the small businesses in Ireland (A Fresh Start for Small Business). One of the simpler proposals was to give small businesses access to the small claims court to chase up debtors. Currently, only consumers can use the small claims court procedure, and there is a limit of €2,000 in the claims which the court can process. …[more]