LimerickSOCIALISTNEWSLETTER OF CIAN PRENDIVILLE & THE SOCIALIST PARTY IN LIMERICK l WINTER 2010

HEALTH CUTS, social welfare cuts,college fee increases, water

charges, property tax on the home -this Government’s four yearBudgetary Plan will be a declarationof war on working class people.

Thousands of euro will be taken out of peo-ple’s pockets. College fee increases will turnthe clock back and make it impossible for manyfamilies to send their children to third level.

Social welfare cutsCuts in child benefit and social welfare will

hammer households that are struggling to paythe gas and ESB bills and move the threat ofmortgage default and house repossession upthe agenda.

It’s one law for the rich and one law for therest - the Government that plans these meas-ures is the very same Government which hasbailed out the banks to the tune of €50 billionwith much more yet to come, while ordinarypeople are offered cheese!

Would a Fine Gael/Labour Government beany better? Both parties accept the target ofreducing the deficit/GDP ratio to 3% by 2014- this simply can’t be done without cutbacksand tax increases on a massive scale.

Many workers have shifted to Labour inrecent times but as they get closer and closerto Government, Labour is voicing support foropenly anti-working class policies. Labourleader Eamonn Gilmore has backed water

charges and Labour Senators have voicedsupport for a property tax on the home.

Austerity policies worsen crisisAusterity policies have been implemented

for the last two years and the crisis has wors-ened. Savage spending cuts will keep unem-ployment high, frighten people from spendingmoney and send the economy into a tailspin.Next year’s €6 billion cuts will cut economicgrowth by 2%. What is neededis a plan based not on bailingout the banks but on get-ting people back to workand redeveloping theeconomy (see our 10 pointprogramme centre pages).

Workers in Greece,France and Spain havefought back against austeritypolicies in recent times. It istime for the Irish working classto unite and oppose this agenda.The leaders of the IrishCongress of Trade Unionsshould be put underpressure to mobilise itsmemebers in a majorcampaign of opposi-tion including a nation-al 24 hour GeneralStrike to defeat thisgovernment.

THE SOCIALIST Party's newly selected GeneralElection candidate for Limerick has stronglycondemned the cutbacks and crisis in

Limerick's health services.The HSE has moved to close beds, shut wards, cut

respite care at Bawnmore and even attempted toclose Nenagh General Hospital at weekends. A hugeburden has resulted on the Mid-Western RegionalHospital in Limerick.

Over the last years the government has pushedcentralisation of services in the Midwest, down-grading of St. John’s, Ennis and Nenagh Generalhospitals. As spokesperson for the Limerick

'Campaign for a Real Public Health Service' CianPrendiville helped organise numerous protests

against this centralisation of A&E servicesto the Regional, warning it would be

a disaster.And it has been. Since 2007

this hospital has seen a six-foldincrease in the amount of peo-ple waiting for treatment ontrolleys! The government isagain preparing to savagehealth care, with yet moreredundancies and cutbacks.

Now we need to fightagainst further cuts, forthe reversal of implement-ed cuts and a lifting of therecruitment ban. Bailouthealth not the banks!

Cian Prendiville condemns health cuts

l No to cuts and tax increases on workersl Use Anglo €30 billion to create jobs

Join the Socialist Party todayText ‘join’ to 086 8064801

WWW.SOCIALISTPARTY.NET

Savage cuts willworsen crisis

(1) SHUT DOWN ANGLOThe Anglo bailout is set to costthe taxpayer €29 – 40 billion.The bank should be closeddown immediately and the loss-es taken by bondholders, privatebanks who lent to Anglo andwealthy depositors.

(2) NATIONALISE THE BANKSUNDER THE DEMOCRATIC CONTROL OFWORKING PEOPLEAIB, Bank of Ireland and otherbanks should be nationalisedand amalgamated into one statebank. The boardsshould be sacked. Anew board withelected representa-tives of bank work-ers and workersgenerally should beestablished. Endthe bank bailoutswhich could end upcosting as much as€90 billion. The bankshould gear resourcestowards reducing mort-gages (in line with currenthouse valuations), defendingjobs and providing cheap cred-it to small business and indi-viduals.

(3) FOR A 35 HOUR WEEKWITHOUT LOSS OF PAYIt makes no sense to have peopleworking 39 hours a week plusovertime at the same time that450,000 people are on the dole.Cut the working week to 35hours without loss in pay andshare out the work. This wouldcreate 165,000 jobs.

(4) FOR AN EMERGENCYPROGRAMME OF SOCIALLYUSEFUL PUBLIC WORKSSchools are unbuilt, communi-ties lack facilities and homes gouninsulated at the same timethat huge numbers of construc-tion workers are on the dole.Launch an emergency pro-

gramme of public worksto end this scan-

dal. It costs€20,000 onaverage in dolepayments and

lost income taxrevenue to keep

s o m e o n eu n e m -

ployedfor

a year. The monies saved by tak-ing 100,000 construction work-ers off the dole will help financethis scheme.

(5) FOR A PROGRESSIVE TAXSYSTEMThirty-three thousand Irish mil-lionaires own €133 billion eurowealth. Force this elite to paytheir fair share. A hefty wealthtax should be introduced; taxloopholes for the rich abolishedand corporation tax significantlyincreased.

(6) AXE THE PAY RATES OFTHE ELITE

The Taoiseach is paid €228,000per annum. A Supreme Courtjudge is paid €257,872 perannum. These elite pay ratesand the sky-high wages of pri-vate sector bosses should beabolished along with perks suchas the Ministerial car fleet.

(7) REVERSE THE CUTSWe are opposed to ALL the cutsin the Government’s €15 billion4 year plan. Not only are mas-sive cutbacks an assault on the“social wage”, striking hardest atworking people and the poor,they are also severely deflation-ary with the potential to cripple

the economy as pointed outrecently by the ESRI.

(8) NO TO PRIVATISATIONIt makes no sense whatsoever toprivatise when the private sec-tor is responsible for the crisisin the first place. Renationaliseprivatised companies likeEircom and nationalise theCorrib Gas Field and other keynatural resources worth tens ofbillions of euro.

(9) END THE RULE OF THEMARKETCapitalism has failed spectacu-larly - 450,000 on the dole, a

THE EXAMPLES quoted to the right show the mind-blowing scale of the Anglo bailout. Bear in mind

that these examples are based on theGovernment’s best estimate of whatthis bailout will cost. They have alsoquoted a “worst case scenario”whereby €34.3 billion would beshelled out. Some economists evenpredict that the bailout will come toover €40 billion.

The Government implemented aform of “socialism for the rich” where-by wealthy investors who gambled onAnglo and lost were bailed out withtaxpayers’ money rather than beingforced to take their losses.

A Fine Gael/Labour Government would alsouse vast amounts of taxpayers’ money to bail outthe bank. Although the Labour Party call for thebondholders to take a bigger hit than that askedfor by Fianna Fail, Labour support the bailout andaccept that the taxpayer must cover a large propor-

tion of the costs. Sinn Fein initially backed the so-calledbank guarantee in 2008.

The Government say that there is no alternative tobailing out the bank. This is a lie.

The banks’ bondholders are owed €17 billion, bankcreditors are owed €33 billion and there is €23 billion ondeposit, a total of €73 billion in total. If you excludepension funds, credit union investments, central bankinvestments and small to medium size deposits there is

more than enough here to cover Anglo’s loss-es. Rather than making ordinary people paythe alternative is to split the losses betweenbondholders, private banks that loanedmoney to Anglo and wealthy depositors.

Shut down Anglo Irish Bank: WHAT BILLI BAILO COUL

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l 90 new with co years

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The Alternative to Bailouts & Cutbacks:

The world according to Brian Lenihan:

“We are not in the business here of bailing out banks” (30 Sept 2008)

“The cheapest bailout in the world so far”(On the bank guarantee, Oct 24 2008)

Cian Prendiville is theSocialist Party candidate forLimerick. At 21, Cian is theyoungest general electioncandidate in the country.However, he already has arecord of campaigning forworkers and the unem-

ployed in Limerick. He is thespokesperson for the

Limerick “Campaign for aReal Public Health Service”

and ........Contact Cian:email / phone

banking disaster and €15 bil-lion in cuts on the way. If cap-italism cannot afford to providejobs, decent living standards,decent social services and afuture then the working classcannot afford capitalism. Endthe power of unelected “mar-kets” made up of speculatorsand investors to impose auster-ity policies by nationalising thefinancial institutions and hedgefunds internationally.

(10) FOR A SOCIALIST PLAN OF PRODUCTION, IN IRELAND AND INTERNATIONALLYNationalise the key sectors ofthe economy, gearing it towardsmeeting the needs of ordinarypeople not the superprofits of acapitalist elite. Match unusedresources with social need - eg.finishing “ghost estates” totackle massive housing waitinglists. Instead of bailing outbanks, use state funding andstate industry to end unem-ployment. Instead of the anar-chy of the market, plan theworld economy rationally toend poverty, starvation, massunemployment and socialinequality. n

T THE €29.3 ON ANGLOOUT MONEYLD BUYal cards for all for 30

w 50-teacher schools osts covered for 90

il:teacher ratio of 10:1 in mary schools for the 4 yearsry bills for the next 3 for everybody in thery fares on all public trans-

or the next 40 years w children’s hospitals 00,000 students through ntire education for freeal cancer vaccines for girl in the country for

xt 10,000 years

WITH 450,000 on

the Live Register,unemployment is

a daily source of frustrationfor those without work. Twoout of every three young menin Limerick City are signingon. This is a monument ofshame for Fianna Fáil’s failedpolicies.

These figures dramaticallyunderstate the true extent ofunemployment, because of peo-ple back in education andschemes. Most significantly, thefigures are “improved” throughthe scandal of over 60,000 peo-ple forced to emigrate to findwork in the last year.

What is Fianna Fail doingabout it? Despite grand declara-tions and promises, the govern-

ment is doing nothing to getpeople back to work. Instead,its policies of cutbacks and jobcuts in the public sector aremaking the situation worse.

The government pretendsthat it is impossible to solve theunemployment crisis in theshort term. However, if it wasserious, it could immediatelyintroduce policies to turn thesituation around and get peopleback to work.

Jobs not bank bailouts

Instead of spending billionson bailing out bankers anddevelopers, the state should stepin to create jobs. There are hugeinfrastructural needs across thiscountry – hospitals and schools

that need to be built, Councilhousing in need of repair - thelist goes on. The 100,000 build-ing workers who are now forcedto be idle on the dole should beemployed by the state on tradeunion rates to construct thisnecessary infrastructure. A 35hour working week, with noloss of pay, should be broughtin to share out the work. Thiswould create another 165,000jobs. Major companies thatclaim an inability to pay,together with the banks andcompanies that threaten redun-dancies or closure should benationalised with compensationonly on the basis of provenneed and brought into demo-cratic workers’ control andmanagement.

To add insult to the injury ofunemployment, the govern-ment, with its Mercs and fatsalaries and expenses, is prepar-ing to cut the dole by 5% ormore. They should try living on€196 a week, nevermind €186!For those on the dole missingmortgage payments and facingdisconnection of phone andgas, this cut would push peoplefurther into real poverty.

THE OPINION pollsshow that tens of thou-sands are moving from

Fianna Fail and Fine Gael tosupport the Labour Party.Labour seems to offer morevocal opposition to the gov-ernment’s policies than FineGael. While Enda Kenny hasbeen uninspiring, EamonGilmore has to some extentexpressed the anger of work-ing people in the Dail.

People hope that Labour ingovernment would be different.However, will Labour reallybring real change?

Unfortunately not is theanswer. It is clear from their pastrecord in government, as well astheir current policies thatLabour will offer more of thesame in government after thenext elections.

Labour’s acceptance of thetarget of reducing the deficit to3% by 2014 is a recipe for thesame type of brutal cutbacksand attacks on workers that thecurrent government hasimposed. For 2011, Labour isarguing for €4.5 billion inadjustments primarily be madeup of attacks on workers.

Water charges

Eamon Gilmore has nowgiven a commitment to intro-duce water charges. Thesecharges, like the water chargesthey helped to introduce in the1990s, would be unjust double

taxation on working people – inreality another way to makeworkers pay for the economiccrisis. Remember, it was LabourTD Jan O'Sullivan as aCouncillor who actually pro-posed the motion introducingbin charges and privatising theservice in Limerick, and that hasresulted in fly-tipping and everincreasing fees.

Labour’s leader has also saidthat Labour will “save” €2.8 bil-lion in the public sector overthree years. This means that theattacks on workers in the publicsector and public services willcontinue under Labour.

Fine Gael

The policies of Labour’s pre-ferred coalition partner, FineGael, are, if anything, moreright-wing and anti-worker thanFianna Fail’s! Leo Varadkar FineGael TD was first to call for cut-

backs of €6 billion. Instead of delivering real

change, Labour in governmentwill sell-out people’s hopes asthey have done previously. Inthe context of a similar econom-ic crisis in the 1980s, Labour ingovernment cut subsidies formilk, bread and butter, hittingthe poorest in society. The richwere protected with Laboursupporting a tax amnesty for therich in government in 1993.

The next government willseek to make workers andunemployed people pay for thecrisis,. What people will need isnot another Labour TD, butproven fighters for working classpeople like Cian Prendiville asTDs. Socialist Party TDs andothers from the United LeftAlliance will offer a politicalopposition in the Dail to thepolicies of cutbacks and attacksas well as organising on theground to defeat them.

United LeftAlliance formed

State must act to provide jobs

Can Labour make a real difference?

AUNITED Left Alliance(ULA) has been

launched. The ULA bringstogether forces on the gen-uine left including theSocialist Party, PeopleBefore Profit Alliance, theTipperary Workers andUnemployed Action Groupand the Sligo/LeitrimIndependent SocialistOrganisation.

This alliance could havesix or seven TDs in the nextDail. Candidates for theULA include CianPrendiville (Limerick) JoeHiggins MEP (DublinWest), Cllr. Clare Daly(Dublin North), Cllr.Richard Boyd Barrett (DunLaoghaire), Cllr. Joan Collins(Dublin South Central),Cllr. Mick Barry (CorkNorth Central), Cllr. SeamusHealy (Tipperary South) andCllr. Declan Bree (SligoLeitrim North).

The ULA is striving tobuild a mass left alternativeto the major parties who areall committed to cuts andattacks on ordinary people.The ULA rejects solutionsto the economic crisis basedon slashing public expendi-ture, welfare payments andworkers’ pay. Instead, itstands for democratic, pub-lic control over resources sothat social need is priori-tised over profit.

PROTEST TO STOPTHE BUDGET CUTSPicket on Willie O'Dea'sClinic Saturday December4th @ 1pm 2 GlenviewGardens, FarranshoneMore info: 0868064801

Join the Socialist Party today - text ‘join’ to 087 2400331

southwestSOCIALISTNEWSLETTER OF CIAN PRENDIVILLE & THE SOCIALIST PARTY IN LIMERICK l WINTER 2010

Socialist Party to contest Limerick General Elections

Vote for a fighter for workersand the unemployed

Cian Prendiville campaigning against the threatened budget cuts

This government has got togo. They are bankrupting thecountry with their bankbailouts and trying to makeordinary people pay. But theofficial opposition of FineGael and Labour offer no realchange in policy. They haveall signed up to the same four

year plan of cuts. I have seen how Limerick

has already been hit by thiscrisis, with savage cutbacks,job losses and mass unem-ployment. Two in every threeyoung men out of work in thecity. We cannot afford fourmore years of cuts, stealthtaxes and attacks on socialwelfare - it will further deci-mate people's lives and thelocal economy. We mustmake the rich who are respon-sible for the crash take theirlosses and, instead, use thatwealth to invest in essentialservices, infrastructure andjob creation.

Unfortunately, none of theestablishment parties will dothat. Even parties like Sinn

Fein and Labour are lookingto enter into coalition withFine Gael, who have called foreven more savage cuts. Justlike the Greens did in the lastelections, they will disappointthose who look to them foran alternative.

We need a real oppositionto the parties of cutbacks andbail outs. That's what I andthe Socialist Party will beseeking to put forward in thenext General Election.

As a young unemployedperson myself, one of the keystruggles we will be involvedin is the fight for jobs. As isoutlined inside, we thinkthere needs to be a fight toforce the government to cre-ate, rather than destroy, jobs.

The Socialist Party stand onour record as determinedfighters for working class peo-ple in Limerick. We have beento the fore in campaignsagainst the downgrading ofSt. John’s A&E, against bincharges and the now watertax.

If elected, i will not take thebloated TD’s salary, but willlive on the average industrialwage, donating the rest tocampaigns and communitygroups. We will use the elec-tion and any elected positionwe win not to wheel-and-deal

with the crooks in power butto organise the campaigns andprotests.

This stand is the first steptowards building a real social-ist alternative in Limerick. Ifyou are sick of tweedledum,tweedledee politics, and wantto see a fight back built, thenjoin the Socialist Party. Joinand help us build strong cam-paigns in the communitiesand workplaces, against thecuts and the bosses. Text JOIN followed by

your name to 0868064801.

WHEN THE regenera-tion project was first

announced in 2008 itoffered long excluded andmarginalised communitiesa glimpse of a positivefuture. That was snatchedaway with the onset of thecurrent economic crisis.With little public moneybeing released, for many,‘regeneration’ has nowbecome synonymous with‘demolition’ as the con-struction of new homes ispostponed.

To overcome this fundingshortfall, Brendan Kenny,chief executive of theRegeneration authorities inLimerick, is considering the

introduction of tax breaksfor big developers and allow-ing private investors buildsocial housing which wouldthen be leased back to theState for a profit.

Handing over entire swathesof Limerick city to the veryprofiteering developers andspeculators who caused thecrisis in the first place is anobscenity. The Socialist Partydemands that the State actsnow to stop any sell out toprivate developers and pro-vide the €3 billion to pub-licly fund regeneration. Inthis, the wishes and needs ofthe communities must beparamount, and they mustbe in control.

For real, publically fundedRegeneration of Limerick

CIAN PRENDIVILLEexplains why hewill be standing forthe Socialist Partyin Limerick in thenext general elec-tion.