OPINION When government becomes cynical

Fuel prices went up again a week ago. Another hike is planned for next month. It’s hard to believe that these rises are excise duties reimposed by the Government.

It is as if politicians are living in a parallel universe without regard for the hardship that people are suffering under their watch. When will they realise that increasing transport fuel costs effectively increases almost everything across the board, including foodstuffs. All this on top of back-to-school costs.

If proof were ever needed that being a politician is the only job that does not require any formal qualification then this is it. Why would any government sanction price increases when people are obviously suffering? More are homeless and hungry.

To find the answer we need to take a step back from the frontline. Already a surplus of over €15 billion has been built up by the government, not through their own good management but mainly because of increased taxes. The irony of this is that the exercise is just one long trip of politicians being purely cynical.

There’s a budget looming and Sinn Féin are breathing down the necks of the government parties – Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party. The Hovernment is building up its budget war chest to appear as the great benefactors of the electorate when they announce budget ‘concessions’ at various levels.

In effect, all they are doing is giving people back the money they have taken from them, nothing more. Yet, some people, especially the party faithful, will fall for the trap, once again.

How wonderful it would be in this so-called democracy if the party faithful challenged their leaders to do what is expected of them and lead the country in a fair and equitable manner. All that is happening is that people with very little are getting squeezed the most. That is unjust and unfair, both of which are not attributes of a democratic state.

Where is the internal party challenge to sham leadership and low standards? Why are Fine Gael grassroots not up in arms over Leo Varadkar’s dealings with SIPO, the ethics in politics watchdog? According to online news platform The Ditch, “SIPO has opened an inquiry into undeclared donations received by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar after it emerged he misled the commission during a 2019 probe… SIPO is currently investigating why Varadkar accepted a €1,400 donation from Edelman in 2018, which wasn’t publicly declared.”

The Ditch is becoming a thorn in politicians sides with its forensic investigations and presentation of facts. Over the past couple of weeks they have highlighted stories affecting many government ministers.

“Then agriculture minister Coveney failed to appoint a candidate to the Marine Institute board in the legally mandated 60 days – but gave the €770-a-meeting role to (Paul) Hyde within a week of the ex-An Bord Pleanála deputy chairperson’s expression of interest. It was the first state role for Hyde, who was recently sentenced to two months’ imprisonment for planning law breaches. Former Tánaiste Coveney had accepted a €2,500 donation from Hyde’s father a few years before approving the state board appointment.”

Enda Kenny, Martin Shanahan (now ex-IDA CEO) and Damien English announced new jobs in Meath in 2014 and 2015 under the defunct Succeed in Ireland scheme. “These 89 jobs, which were to be based in Kells, received extensive media coverage when they were announced in 2014 and 2015. Only 19 were actually delivered – but they didn’t last long. The state-subsidised jobs lasted for just more than a year before the business owner, a former Fine Gael election candidate, shut down operations… Enda Kenny had announced a separate 83 jobs in Cork and Dublin as part of the same programme. These jobs also failed to materialise.”

There’s the High Mileage Club – Minsters who claimed huge travel expenses when the Dáil was in recess that cannot be backed up by their work diaries. Much wants more and more is never enough.

Politicians say they can do little about excessive bank or energy company profits, apart from sitting back and watching high taxes accumulate. The citizen pays every time, from bailing out banks and the euro, to big pharma and energy companies. Who’s next?