Cutbacks must not undo boom years' achievements

Reaction to the report of 'An Bord Snip' whose official title is the rather more elongated 'Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes' issued its much-anticipated report last week, as a manual as to how the government makes savings of €5 billion, with cabinet borrowing hitting €400 million a week to run the country. It is widely accepted that, to quote a former taoiseach who had first-hand experience of such a lifestyle, we are 'living beyond our means' as a nation. Opposition parties have been relatively mute in their reaction to the report, presented in two volumes, as they also know that there is a bitter pill to be swallowed. It has been very much left up to focus groups and campaign organisations to highlight their unhappiness with the mismanagement of the economy over the past decade that allowed the country go from boom to bust in a short space and undo all the good of the prosperity years, and object to the swingeing cuts proposed by UCD lecturer in economics, Colm McCarthy, the chairman of the report group, to the Government in his recommendations. Irish Rural Link (IRL), the national organisation campaigning for rural communities, described the report as a 'blueprint for abandoning rural Ireland' if implemented in full. According to IRL chief executive Seamus Boland, the proposals have not considered the environmental, social or economic sustainability of rural communities. They say loss of a dedicated Government department (Eamon O'Cuiv's Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs) would be a significant blow to rural development and the hardworking local community groups it supports. These proposals would amount to a false economy and if they were implemented in full rural areas would be unable to realise their potential to contribute to our economic recovery and instead would become more isolated requiring more investment down the line. Tourism is vital for the rural economy and having these two departments under threat is a symbolic dismissal of the importance of rural livelihoods and communities, IRL continues. They highlight issues like rural transport, in which there are proposed cuts. It has been shown to be delivering a vital service and a social inclusion role efficiently. The Fitzpatrick Associates report for the Department of Transport, published in 2006, estimated that some 380,000 people living in rural Ireland had unmet transport needs. Of these 200,000 were accounted for by older people, young people, those on low incomes, and people with mobility, sensory or cognitive impairments. Adequate rural transport is required to ensure that those at risk of social exclusion in rural areas have access to essential facilities and public services. Cutting investment in road maintenance will jeopardise road users and increase the maintenance costs of running a car - a form of transport the report appears happy to see people more dependent on. Many in Meath have already experienced such cutbacks. The dependence of the rural economy on construction and traditional manufacturing, along with the removal of the safety valve of emigration, means that social welfare cuts cannot be considered, IRL points out. The brunt of the required adjustment should not be born by the most vulnerable, including those most recently unemployed. The forced amalgamation of schools - and an increase in the pupil teacher ratio - will remove the vibrancy for many rural areas and coupled with the proposed increases in school transport for post primary pupils to €500 a year will increase car dependence and costs for families. Regional air access is vital for international trade and competitiveness and reducing support for regional airports and air services cuts any chance of attracting employers when the global economy recovers. The report says this is justified due to investment in rail but elsewhere it is recommended that the Western Rail Corridor be abandoned. Another point made by the rural support organisation is that the closure of Garda stations will leave a significant population without any visible policing presence and cause a crisis in rural security. Other organisations such as farm groups and teachers' associations have also been highlighting the affects the cuts would have on their members and society in general as a result. Everybody accepts that it is necessary to make savings, and that we no longer have the once much-admired most healthy economy in Europe, while Colm McCarthy says it's all or nothing has to be implemented in respect of his report. There are sacrifices to be made, but they should not go as far as destroying all the benefits that accrued during the boom.