'Quality of life over quality of the economy'

Labour 'think-in': The Labour party is hoping to shift the election debate from economic success to governmental mismanagement. And although Pat Rabbitte is not saying so, party insiders believe a deal could be done with Fianna Fáil after the election. Eoin Ó Murchú reports

Quality of life rather than quality of the economy is the real test for the government, according to the Labour Party at its annual think-in in Cork this week.

Party leader Pat Rabbitte claimed that the government's boasts about the health of the economy rang hollow with people queueing in A&E, looking for school places for their children, worried by rising rates of crime and anti-social behaviour, and faced with the disintegration of their communities.

"We need a change of direction," he claimed, and that means "we need a change of government."

Shrugging off the latest Irish Examiner poll – which showed Labour down two points, and the current government parties comfortably ahead of the Rainbow alternative – Rabbitte argued that polls have to taken in their aggregate, and in the context of the work done by party activists on the ground.

He claimed that the consistent message coming back from the community was one of deep concern, and he believes that, if offered a clear alternative, voters will plump for change.

Challenged by journalists to put meat in the sandwich of his electoral message, the Labour leader promised that Labour and Fine Gael will produce detailed policy positions before the election so that voters can know what they will be choosing between. But this detail must wait another day.

Certainly, the broad headlines are clear: health, crime, environment, community, and quality of life. And these are the same issues which Fine Gael highlighted in its parliamentary meeting in Sligo the week before.

But it is not yet apparent how close the hymn sheets are from which the two parties are singing, and senior deputies conceded that even if a Rainbow government is established between Labour and Fine Gael, there will be difficult times ahead as the two parties juggle to translate broad strokes of policy into actual programmes.

Housing spokesperson Éamon Gilmore told Village that housing is one of the central questions that a new government will have to face. He dismissed Michael McDowell's raising of the issue of stamp duty as a stunt, and said that a more comprehensive plan was needed.

This plan will include protection for tenants in rented property, as well as measures to increase the range and price-effectiveness of affordable housing and social housing.

Indeed,he claimed that if sufficient progress could be made on affordable housing, then social housing would reduce in demand, as the buoyant economy would give more people the opportunity to provide for themselves.

He argued again that a mere five per cent of our current housing output of 85,000 habitation units (that is houses and apartments) is made available as affordable housing. This is well below the 20 per cent specified in government policy.

The point is, he argued, that business interests make money out of other people's needs, and Fianna Fáil, he claimed, was loath to take away the Golden Eggs from its own party supporters.

For Pat Rabbitte, the key question was the growing alienation of people from the community in which they live. High house prices have forced many people to live at long distances from their place of work, leaving them very little time for their own families, let alone for any interaction with their neighbours.

He said that this reality of a poor quality of life because of excessive commuting, the disconnection of the individual from his or her community, and intense financial and social pressure, made a mockery of government boasts about their economic success.

All of this, he said, was the result of poor management on the part of the government. Immigration, for example, had the potential to develop into a racist crisis because the government did not plan how to integrate people into the community. But, he said, how could they do that, when the government was actually involved in destroying a sense of community and leaving individuals isolated in any case.

This, he said, was the waste of spending that characterised the government. And the problems of A&E, school places, traffic chaos and commuting misery could all be solved, he said, by proper management of existing resources.

This was the choice that the Rainbow alternative was offering the people, he said. So there would be no need to raise taxes to achieve the improvements people wanted, as Labour's critics in the Progressive Democrats claimed.

He charged that the government was totally bankrupt of new ideas; that it could not understand why people were discontented and was just lumbering along in the hope that something would turn up.

What would turn up, he said, was the Rainbow government.

Rabbitte accepts that not everyone in Labour is happy that such a close arrangement has been made with Fine Gael, but believes that he has "overwhelming support" for his position. More succinctly, party general secretary Mike Allen said that if the strategy works, it will be endorsed by acclamation!

Fighting stuff. But a number of problems remain.

First of all, the detail of the joint programme of Labour and Fine Gael will contain much that will be unwelcome to Labour's support base, and Rabbitte will have a major job to sell the net benefits of such a programme to his own supporters, even before he tries to win over disaffected Fianna Fáil supporters.

Secondly, the electoral arithmetic remains problematic. Labour may proclaim that it is targeting up to ten additional seats, but only two of these look certain, with perhaps another three possibles. As against this, Kerry South is almost certainly a lost seat for Labour, with potential losses also in Dublin North and Carlow Kilkenny – where Fine Gael may make advances at Labour's expense.

And of course, much of Fianna Fáil's losses will be snapped up by Sinn Féin which still looks set to double its Dáil representation.

Nevertheless, the electoral alliance with Fine Gael seems set at this point, and Rabbitte has no need to look over his shoulder. His problems will only begin if the strategy fails to deliver, and Labour believe that if they can shift the balance of the debate from the economy to its impact on people in their real lives, and show themselves as a party with ideas and answers, then they can win.

And, while Rabbitte doesn't say it, others quietly suggest that this policy emphasis can set the parameters for negotiations with Fianna Fáil if the Rainbow doesn't materialise – giving Labour a win-win scenario.p

Eoin Ó Murchú is the Eagraí Polaitíochta of RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta. He is writing here in a personal capacity.