Coalition version 2.0 'will send us down the toilet'
THE new Programme for Government, agreed late on Friday night, has been roundly denounced as a "total sham" that will send Ireland "down the toilet".
Although the Green Party voted overwhelmingly to stay in Government and to support the state's bad bank Nama at a special convention at the RDS in Dublin yesterday, there has been a strong negative reaction to the agreement from leading figures in politics, the education sector and from leading economists.
More than 600 delegates attended the convention, which passed a motion to support the new Programme for Government by a vote of 84 per cent in support to 16 per cent against, well over the two-thirds majority needed.
Out of a valid poll of 622, 523 delegates voted in favour of the Programme for Government, while 99 voted against.
Delegates also voted overwhelmingly to support the National Asset Management Agency, rejecting an anti- Nama motion by a vote of 69 per cent, or 415 votes, in favour of Nama, to 31 per cent, or 189 votes, against.
Speaking after the vote, party leader John Gormley said: "Today is a very important day in the history of this party. I thank everyone here for their overwhelming endorsement and we will do our part to ensure this new programme is implemented."
Taoiseach Brian Cowen said the programme was designed to allow the Government adapt to a new reality.
"The proposed programme is designed to act as a blueprint to meet the challenges we now face," he said. "We all have to adapt to changed circumstances. Just as businesses and families are adapting to the new reality, the Government is doing so too."
Despite the successful passing of the votes, the new deal between the coalition, agreed late on Friday night, has been roundly denounced by leading academics, opposition politicians and economists.
Friends First Chief Economist Jim Power strongly denounced the new deal as a "total sham" that does nothing to address the country's rocketing deficit.
He said: "This deal is symbolic of how this Government has operated since coming into power. It is clear they have bottled it and have failed to address any of the fundamental problems in our economy, it is a total sham."
The president of one of Ireland's leading universities yesterday blasted the move not to proceed with the re-introduction of third-level fees. DCU president Ferdinand von Prondzynski described the announcement on fees as a colossal mistake and one that would badly damage Irish education.
Speaking to the Sunday Independent, he said: "The Irish university sector is already massively underfunded compared to the UK or the US. Fees were the one hope of us trying to close the gap, but this move is a dangerous development that will badly damage our standing.
"This will lead to a running down of Irish education and will mean poorer standards for those in Irish colleges. We [the presidents] are meeting on Monday and, of course, this will be very high on the agenda."
Brian Hayes, education spokesman for Fine Gael, said the proposal as agreed by Fianna Fail and the Greens would "send Irish education down the toilet".
He said yesterday: "We didn't agree with the introduction of fees but we suggested a student contribution. However, this document will send Irish education down the toilet, and it is clear now that given he put all his eggs in one basket, this is a resigning issue for [Education Minister] Batt O'Keeffe."
Mr O'Keeffe was refusing to comment yesterday but his spokesman said that Mr Hayes' call for him to resign was totally ridiculous and accused Mr Hayes blatant inconsistencies on the fees issue. He said: "This is typically vacuous stuff from a mere soundbite politician. Among Mr Hayes' key weaknesses is that he is consistently inconsistent."
Mr O'Keeffe's spokesman tried to distance himself from the fees idea he has been pushing for over 16 months, saying yesterday that in light of the recession now was not the right time to be looking for students to contribute toward their fees.
Throughout the day at the RDS, Green ministers sold the case for staying in Government to a somewhat sceptical party. Speaking to the media, Communications Minister Eamon Ryan said that while the deal was "far from perfect", it offered the best framework for the Government to make the hard decisions.
He said that along with the move on third-level fees, the biggest gain achieved was the reform of local government. "I think the reform of local government is for me the key issue or gain for us.
"The move to a regional authority system with real powers which will integrate planning, water and transport is a major fundamental change," he said.
- Daniel McConnell, Chief Reporter
Originally published in
