The promises of greed

Vacuous pre-election debates ignore the really important social issues: inequality, healthcare, child poverty, education. By Vincent Browne

So far the election campaign has been about promises, promises of greed. The parties bribing the electorate by promising voters more of their own money. Lower PRSI, lower standard rate of tax, lower upper rate of tax, more hospital beds, shorter hospital waiting times, medical cards for children up to the age of six, less waste, more value-for-money, more roads, more trams, more trains.

Almost nothing of importance is being debated. Just promises we know cannot be delivered on, especially with all the signals of an economic slow-down. Entirely implausible claims to manage the economy better than the other crowd, at a time when the crowd in office has wasted tens of billions and the crowd out of office has no track record of running anything ever.

There serious issues however and here are some of them.

The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) published a report last December which showed the results of a UNICEF study of child poverty in 26 of the richest countries. Ireland came 22nd on that list, with only New Zealand, Italy, the US and Mexico ranking lower than us.

Another study, published in the same ESRI report, showed that we came second from the bottom of European countries on inequality generally, and fourth most unequal as far a children are concerned.

Amid all the protestations about our concern for children, wouldn't you think these matters would feature in the election debate?

Although it is hardly surprising that, aside from all the rhetoric we care not a tiny bit for the welfare of children, when hardy comes to hardy.

Remember how our Supreme Court, to the approval of most people, certainly all the political partiers, decreed it was OK for the parents of Irish-citizen children to be deported? 

According to a recent survey, one in every 100 Irish people is now a millionaire, even when their family homes are excluded from calculation. It has also been reported that six Irish billionaires have a combined worth of €11bn, the equivalent to the GDP of Jordan, which has a population of six million. Most of these are tax exiles. In other words, having made spectacular wealth, at least initially, from this society, they high-tail it off to some tawdry tax haven to avoid sharing a modest part of their wealth with the society that initially made them wealthy. And this does not rate a mention in the political debate of the mainstream parties, although, to be fair, Sinn Féin has adverted to this scandal.

Meanwhile, nearly one in five people (18.5 per cent) are living on incomes at less than €11,000 for a single adult or less than €25,500 for two adults and two children, that is disposable income (income after tax but including all social welfare benefits). To most of us in the middle classes, the idea of a family of four living on less than €25,500 a year is inconceivable. Were it not for social welfare payments, the number of people living below this base level would be far higher, around 40 per cent.

There is no willingness on the part of the political establishment to do anything about these huge inequities. None of the mainstream political parties are even addressing the issue.

A report was published five years ago now, ‘Inequalities and Mortalities' by the Institute of Public Health has got no political attention at all and little media attention.

This showed that for all the major fatal diseases, the incidence of premature death among the lower socio-economic groups was far higher than in the case of the higher socio-economic groups in both jurisdictions in Ireland.

For instance, the mortality rate for the lowest occupational class for all heart diseases was 120 per cent higher than in the highest occupational class.
The premature mortality rate for strokes was 21¼2 times higher (150 per cent) for the lowest occupational class, compared with the highest occupational class. For cancer of the oesophagus, the premature mortality rate for the lowest occupational group was nearly 31¼2 times (250 per cent) that of the highest occupational group; for stomach cancers it was over twice (110 per cent); for pancreas, 60 per cent more.

The mortality rate for mental and behavioral disorders was more than 41¼2 times; for alcohol abuse nearly four times; for drug abuse almost seven times; for pneumonia it was more than three times higher. This speaks of enormous inequality generally in society, not just in healthcare. Inequality in education, in housing, in diet, in general welfare. But hardly a mention of this anywhere, aside from Liz McManus.

The vote we exercise on election day (24 May or 31 May?) will have been the only input us citizens have into the running of our society in five years. It is unfortunate even this minimal exercise of democracy will be rendered largely meaningless by the largely meaningless options we are offered and the vacuity of the debate.