Wealthy must make amends

Once again Vincent Browne, despite being on holiday, gets it spot on (9/8/09) when he says the wealthy will be allowed to keep their yachts. However, he doesn’t propose any solution to the crisis they created.

‘Bord Slash not-so-Nua’ has recommended savage cuts against the vulnerable, while [Minister for Social and Family Affairs]Mary Hanafin has threatened more cuts in social welfare. The government is crazily misguided in punishing those who had minimal roles in creating the current crisis, while rewarding those who were mainly responsible by throwing billions at zombie banks and setting up Nama to pay above current market values for zombie property sites. This creates a deflationary spiral of more unemployment and more cuts, ad infinitum.

To break this downward vicious circle, we need a new vision. In the short term, firms in danger of shedding workers should be assisted to keep staff on, even on the basis of three days’ work plus two days’ education and training. This would save money, as each job loss costs about €20,000. It would also address the problem of falling levels of the very skills needed to pull us out of the mire.

The Spirit of Ireland and many research labs, including the new energy lab in DCU, have given a lead by proposing renewable energy schemes which would generate jobs and make Ireland more independent of costly imports. They should be supported, rather than starved of funds just to bail out greedy incompetents.

Cllr Dessie Ellis Finglas, Dublin 11

Need for prosecutions

I refer to the article by Colm McCarthy (Banks need reform, 16/ 8/09) which prompts the question: why should we confine ourselves to a mere inquiry when there is a crying need for this whole matter to be handed over to the law, with a view to prosecuting those who caused this financial crash?

There is enough law in the various companies acts to facilitate such a course of action.

Patrick J Pyne Blarney, Co Cork

Price puzzler

In early August, I purchased a bottle of Jameson whiskey on a small island off the coast of Cambodia. Despite the remoteness of the location and the smallness of the store, the cost was only about €11.This is less than half what the same bottle normally costs in a large Dublin supermarket (and roughly the same as what I pay in Portugal).

If An Bord Snip and the Commission on Taxation are to have any lasting benefit for the Irish taxpayer, they need to give some priority to making life in Ireland affordable and enjoyable.

Ted Mooney Tavira, Portugal

Lisbon Treaty debate

The contention by J Anthony Gower from the Isle of Wight (Letters, 16/8/09), that the European Union is ‘‘undemocratic and fraudulent’’, does not stand up to scrutiny.

Similarly wide of the mark is his proclamation that the Lisbon Treaty is ‘‘no less than an attack on the democracy of the Irish people’’ by the ‘‘dictators of Europe’’. Ireland, and indeed Britain, are equal members with 25 other democracies in the European Union.

When the Lisbon Treaty was being negotiated, the democraticallyelected governments of all member countries took many years on its details. There was nothing undemocratic, fraudulent or dictatorial about that.

A Leavy Sutton, Dublin 13

* A letter in your paper (16/8/09) plugs a Yes vote to the Lisbon Treaty by ‘‘Brian Crowley MEP’’. Is this the Cork MEP who could not be bothered to answer even one question about the EU in the run-up to the EU elections?

I have just one question for him: if the Lisbon Treaty is so above board in its intentions, why was it necessary to seek the so-called protocols we never got?

Sean Murtagh, Navan, Co Meath

&Here are a few claims Alison O’Connor (9/8/09)might ponder. The Lisbon Treaty/EU Constitution was rejected by the voters of France, the Netherlands and Ireland:

true or false? Not a single line of the Lisbon Treaty has been changed:

true or false? Anyone who refuses to believe that the treaty will not lead to further centralisation of EU powers, thanks to the EU courts - particularly in the areas of tax and immigration - is blinded by Eurofanaticism.

Cian Hayden Kilmore, Dublin 15

* How can it be said that the European Union ‘‘has vastly more international involvement in development aid . . . than military endeavours’’, while ‘‘member states spend some €250 billion on defence annually’’ and the world’s annual development aid budget is only €100 billion? (EU think-tank urges military development, 16/8/ 09.)

The time and money that Irish people donate to development and disaster relief every year shows where our hearts are. If the Lisbon Treaty committed the member states to match Ireland’s development aid budget, perhaps we would have approved it last year.

The EU might be wise to redefine its concepts of ‘‘security’’ and ‘‘defence’’ to emphasise aid for education systems in central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where an increase in literacy and educational levels might have the most significant effect in promoting peace and stability, democracy, industry and trade.

Coilín O´ hAiseadha Cill Mhaighneann, Dublin 8

Aid should not be cut

John O’Shea (Letters, 16/8/09) and Tom Arnold (Agenda, 9/8/09) will be pleased to learn that Dead Aid author Dambisa Moyomay no longer be calling for aid to cease in five years.

On June 10, she said in an interview on OECDTV that ‘‘a determined effort’’ to wean African countries off aid could begin in 2050 - a far less controversial proposal.

Moyo is a pro-market critic of aid. However, much criticism of aid in recent years has been to the economic conditions attached, and the environmental and social costs of certain large projects, such as dams.

Such complaints are frequently about the IMF and the World Bank, rather than aid in general, and don’t apply to Irish Aid or assistance from charities.

Those calling for reparations are seeking more money, not less. In April, the OECD described Ireland as a ‘‘champion in making aid more effective’’. In the 2008 Commitment to Development Index, Ireland was ranked fifth.

However, it seems you can have too much of a good thing. In the interests of fairness and sustainability, we are severely cutting a high quality aid programme at a time when the world’s poorest need it most.

Frank Humphreys Blackrock, Co Dublin

Maths correction

Education minister Batt O’Keeffe is being misleading when he mentions that the numbers doing higherlevel maths increased when bonus points for the subject were removed in the mid-1990s.

The reason for the improved participation rate then was almost certainly due to a new, shorter syllabus, examined with stepped questions so it was easier to get at least a pass.

Bringing back a bonus for honours maths would not only increase its worth in terms of points, but also its status, and would undoubtedly encourage more students to take on this challenging subject.

Tom Kindlon Castleknock, Dublin 15