September 2007 Archives

Does projected economic growth of 5% a year mean, for example, that we'll have:

• 5% more cars on the road each year for the foreseeable future?
• 5% more children trying to get into schools every year?
• 5% more people crowding each year into our hospitals?

Will this growth continue to undermine our national competitiveness as has happened during the recent years? If so, the net result will be that cars will be barely usable due to congestion, more children won't get places in schools, the health service will implode and no one will want our overpriced exports. Surely this is a Celtic nightmare and absolutely unsustainable or undesirable.

Will some politician please stand up and articulate a vision of Ireland which allows the country to consolidate and draw economic breath.

Following the German Ambassador's remarks about salary levels for senior civil servants and consultants, is there any chance of the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector benchmarking Irish salaries against comparable jobs in other countries? The grounds being that if our salary levels at the top are not comparable, there is little prospect of the economy as a whole being competitive.

Letter publsihed in the Irish Times on 24th September 2007.