Jibe has come back to bite Govt

Dear sir - Before the last election, the two leaders of the Government parties, Bertie Ahern and Michael McDowell, in a fit of cynical negative campaigning, christened the opposition the 'Slump Coalition". How this cheap jibe has come home to roost. Let"s look at the facts and how they are affecting people throughout the country. In 100 days, 40,000 people have lost their jobs. The blight of outward emigration has returned. Ireland has become the fourth most expensive country in the world. House prices are falling 10 per cent per annum. Construction activity has fallen for the 14th successive month (since the last election). Exports are decreasing. The Irish Stock Exchange has performed worst in the world except for Vietnam. In the next two months, electricity prices are to rise by 17.5 per cent and gas prices are to rise by 20 per cent. July exchequer figures show that the public finances plunged deeper into the red to €6.7 billion, with tax receipts now €2.2 billion short of what had been projected. Total average wealth per household dropped €32,000 in 2007 and average indebtedness per household exceeded €128,000. Suffice to say that evidently we have a slump and unfortunately we have the FF/PD/Green coalition. The above-mentioned coalition will bluster about the credit crunch and high oil prices; however, Ireland"s economy is nose-diving faster than our competitors in relation to growth, employment and foreign direct investment. This has not happened by accident. The 'Slump Coalition"s" mismanagement overheated the housing market and years of unchecked inflation has hit families and reduced our competitiveness. The one piece of silver lining which exists in the economy is that Irish productivity, or worker output, is increasing faster than competitors such as Germany. This is largely due to higher third-level participation rates here than among some of our competitors. Free fees have contributed to this trend. What"s the 'Slump Coalition"s" response? You"ve guessed it, bring back college fees. Yours, Cllr Peadar Tóibín, Navan.