Broken promises despite the spin

On Monday 25 July, the Government claimed that three quarters of its commitments had been met or were about to be met. This contrasts starkly with a recent analysis by Village, which shows that 25 of the key election promises on health, housing, crime and infrastructure will not be met before the next election. Political commentators (see next page) predict that Bertie Ahern will probably be the next Taoiseach, despite these broken promises. Here is a small sample of key broken promises.

Accident and Emergency

Improve Accident and Emergency Services

205 patients were being treated on trolleys in A&E on 26 July 2005.

Hospital Waiting Lists

Permanently end hospital waiting lists by the end of 2004

The latest information for the end of 2004 reveals that 43 per cent of public patients were waiting between six and 12 months for surgery.

Housing

Expand various social housing programmes to meet housing needs of 15,000 houses p.a.

In 2004, 8,149 social houses units were provided, a figure higher than previous years.

Poverty

Reduce "consistent poverty" to below two per cent

Almost 10 per cent of the Irish population were living in "consistent poverty" in 2003.

Class sizes

Reduce the class size for children under nine within five years to below the international best practice guideline of 20 pupils to one teacher

The average class size for the 2003/2004 year was 24:1.

Garda numbers

2,000 extra gardaí

It will take seven years from February 2005 for the target of an additional fully trained 2,000 officers to be achieved.

Taxation

Over the lifetime of the government, ensure that 80 per cent of all earners will pay tax only at the standard rate

This target cannot be met. In 2005, only 35 per cent of all earners were paying tax at the standard rate compared.

Minimum wage

Remove minimum wage earners from the tax net

With an increase in the minimum wage to €7.65 per hour, 37,000 of the 66,000 low income earners previously removed from the tax net through last years budget have been brought back into the tax system.

Roads

Implement the roads programme by 2006

This promise was made specifically by Fianna Fáil, but the roads programme is now running seven years behind schedule and the cost of the programme, which was to be €5.6 billion, will certainly be over €16.4 billion.

Dublin Airport

Deal with capacity problem by the end of 2003 by building a new pier

Pier D has yet to be built: the Government has given a new target date of 2007.

Old Age Pensions

Increase basic state pension to €200 by 2007

To achieve this target, pensions would have to be increased by €34 in the next two budgets.

Overseas Development Aid

Increase overseas development aid (ODA) to the UN target of 0.7 per cent of GNP by 2007

This will not happen by the target date, even though the Government says "it is strongly committed to achieving the UN target".

Hilary Curley