Austerity is not Working-Michael Burke at TASC Conference
Austerity is not Working
Michael Burke At TASC Conference 2011
‘Investing in Recovery’ session, FEPS/TASC Autumn Conference, October 15th
*Throughout the Nation Income & Expenditure Accounts for 2010 are used unless otherwise stated http://www.cso.ielrefeasespublications/documentv/Aron®my0current/nie.pdf
It is customary for the government, Dept of Finance, and its supporters in academia and the media in Ireland to look at the situation from the wrong end of the telescope- to begin with a symptom of the crisis – the deficit – and not the crisis itself. But because it is familiar, for now the same process of working backwards is adopted.
The Deficit
In the National Income and Expenditure Accounts 2010, Total Borrowing of the public sector in 2010 was €51.9bn (Table 21, line 236)*. This arose primarily because total receipts of€48.8bn were exceeded by total outlays of €103bn (other items excluded). However, of that deficit €32.2bn was grants to enterprises (Line 244, the bank bailout). Therefore the borrowing requirement excluding the bailouts was €19.7bn. These fiscal deficits, excluding bailouts have been rising, not falling, even though there have been cuts in spending and tax increases.
We can arrive at the ex-bailout deficit by adding ‘Grants to enterprises’ (line 244) to net lending/borrowing (line 253). So net borrowing/lending was as follows:
2005 €3.5bn 2006 €5.7bn 2007 €0.9bn 2008 -€11.3bn 2009 -€17.8bn 2010 -€17.4bn (other items account for the reduction below €19.7bn).
The government has attempted to close this deficit by reducing its own spending and increase taxes on the general population, which also reduces their spending power and the incentive for businesses to invest. As those deficit numbers demonstrate, ‘austerity’ to reduce the deficit has been a complete failure.
Failure of Policy
In terms of current transfer payments, the government has cut €1.76bn in social welfare payments between 2008 and 2010 (Table 24). The effective cuts are much greater than this due to rising demand from increased population and increased impoverishment. Yet the total level of current spending has risen by €4.2bn, from €29.6bn to €33.8bn. The single biggest rise is in debt interest payments, from €2bn to €4.9bn. Unemployment assistance has risen by €1.6bn, redundancy payments by €300mn, unemployment benefit by €350mn, welfare allowances by €200mn. Employment support services fell by €100mn, pension contributions from employees have fallen by €380mn.
In terms of investment government gross fixed capital formation fell by €1.8bn in the two years to 2008 (Table 25). So, the €1.8bn decline in investment more than accounts for the decline in the deficit in 2010 from 2009 (€0.4bn).
Taking all categories of government spending (Table 26), both current and capital spending, we see the following declines from 2008 to 2010: Defence €100mn, ‘other government services’ €2.9bn, education €400m, health €900mn, housing €500mn, other community services €500mn, agriculture €1.4bn, mining €400mn and transport €1.5bn. In addition local government cut spending (Table 27) on housing by €900mn on transport by €800mn and on all types of economic and community services by a combined €1.7bn. Altogether these amount to spending cuts of €12bn.
Again the real effects of the cuts are greater, given both higher prices and increased demand. Yet the deficit has risen as spending has risen, up €26bn, central and local government combined. Apart from the bailouts (€4bn in 2009, €32bn in 2010), social security welfare payments have risen by €2.Sbn, of which unemployment assistance and unemployment benefits account for €2bn.
Government supporters continue to suggest that it is a bloated public sector which is responsible for the fiscal crisis, despite all evidence showing that this economy has one of the lowest levels of government spending in the Euro Area. Achieving deficit-reduction by these means has proved impossible, the deficit has widened. Even if all the cuts equalled savings (which is clearly not the case) the entire public sector would have to be sacked in order to achieve deficit-reduction as the wage, salary and pension bill of central and local government combined is €18.2bn (Table 24, line ) is lower than the €19.7bn deficit.
Taxation
The other track the government has pursued has been increased taxation. The monthly and annual exchequer returns were always a very poor guide to the actual state of government finances in particular as they exclude social security payments. They are even less useful now after the introduction of the USC, which is not included. But the NEE does list tax revenues more comprehensively, even if detail is absent (Table 22).
Taxation revenues have fallen for 3 consecutive years as key categories of activity started to contract in 2008. Despite a series of tax hikes taxation revenues have fallen from €59.2bn in 2007 to €43.3bn in 2010. This loss of €15.9bn effectively accounts for over 90% of the deficit, not increased spending. Only welfare payments have risen.
In total, the government has aimed at ‘fiscal consolidation’ of €14.6bn (not including the November 2010 Budget). This was split €9bn in spending cuts and €5.6bn in tax increases. The tax increases were focused on incomes and on consumption (VAT). Taxes on capital and on profits were untouched.
To see the effect of these lopsided tax measures, we can note that taxes paid by individuals incomes or consumption comprise income tax, motor tax, customs and excise, VRT, while taxes paid on capital or
capital transactions comprise CGT, CAT and stamps. Leaving aside social insurance contributions, taxes on corporations comprise corporation tax, the employment levy and a portion of motor tax (Table 22).
From 2007 (the last year of the boom) to 2010 the total amount of taxation paid from these sectors under those heads was as follows (€bn):
2007 2010
Individuals 34.2 26.3
Capital 6.7 1.5
Corporations 8.5 6.1
Social Insurance 9.1 8.7
Total (incl. misc. items) 59.2 43.3
In fact businesses contribution to social insurance was €5.7 in 2007 falling to €5bn in 2010 (Table 1, lines 3&10). Therefore it is possible to rewrite the table above distributing the different contributions of employers and employees to SI (€bn).
2007 2010
Individuals 37.6 30.0
Capital 6.7 1.5
Corporations 14.8 11.1
Total (incl. misc. items) 59.2 43.3
Individuals formerly provided 63% of total tax revenues. Despite a fall in their incomes, their tax contribution has risen to over 69% of the total.
Investment
So far, we have dealt with the deficit and the failure of government policy. But these are only symptomatic of the crisis, which is an economic crisis. In nominal terms (excluding the effects of price changes) GDP has fallen by 17.9% between 2007 and 2010 (Table A). But investment (gross fixed capital formation) has fallen by 66%. It also accounts for the bulk of the decline in GDP, €32.3bn of a total loss in output of €34bn. By contrast, while households have been very badly hit, the decline in household consumption is €11.3bn and a fall of 12%.
We can also locate the source of the decline. While both central and local government investment has fallen by €2.9bn between 2007 and 2010 (Table 21, line 249) the remaining €29.4bn is the decline in the investment of the private sector. In effect, a private sector investment strike accounts for 86% of the total loss of output.
How To Address the Investment Strike?
In 2010 the total level of private sector investment was €11.4bn. Yet the private sector’s share of value added in 2010 was €54.8bn (Table l, line 13, minus lines, 2, 3, 9 & 10). For comparison, in 2007 the private sectors’ level of investment was €41.3bn of a net income of €68.2bn. In 2007 the private sector was willing to invest over 60% of its net income whereas in 2010 it invested less than 20% of its net income.
All private investment is made for a profitable return. Public investment is also made for a return, but usually the direct return accrues to the private sector (a new road, or educating a student) and only indirectly to the public sector via increased tax revenues. The investment strike arises because the private sector does not expect profitable returns on investment.
In fact the corporations in the Irish economy have been making savings over a prolonged period (Table 11, line 141) when the normal functioning of a market economy is that the household sector saves and ° the corporate sector borrows in order to invest, via the medium of the banks. But because the Irish corporate sector’s income as a proportion of total value added has been so high (exceeded only by Greece) it has felt no need to borrow to invest. Now that its income has fallen it has responded by maintaining savings (at a reduced level of income) and cutting investment.
As we have shown, there was a €43.4bn discrepancy between the income and investment of the private sector in 2010, which is greater than the entire shortfall in output since the recession began. In Keynes’s phrase, ‘the level of investment determines the level of employment and output’. We also know that businesses will invest once more when they foresee a profitable return on investment, which in turn depends on a resumption of growth.
Therefore, what is proposed is a series of temporary measures (windfall taxes, levies, charges, commissions, licenses, the labels are less important) by the government to channel a large portion of
that €43.4bn towards the needed investment in rail, ports and other infrastructure, superfast broadband, housing and education. The shortfall is in the order of €30bn. To engineer a recovery a fraction of that would be necessary. But once a strong recovery is underway, businesses will be induced to invest the remainder themselves simply from the profits available and may even begin to borrow for productive investment from the banks. However, this will only occur if the upturn in investment is orchestrated by the public sector.
ENDS
Labour Reduces Free Heat Units to Poor this winter
How Low can they GO?
During the warmer summer months, Minister for “Social Protection”, Joan Burton(LabourParty Deputy Leader) announced cuts to the home benefits package for pensioners and social welfare beneficiaries. The allocations of electricity units and gas units so important for home heating were reduced by between 20% and 25%. AGE ACTION IRELAND has stated “Research on fuel poverty and older people by the Dublin Institute of Technology and the Institute of Public Health — funded by CARDI and due to be published in the coming weeks — shows that during the winter of 2006/7 there were 1,281 excess winter deaths*. Of these, the vast majority were older people (1,216 were aged over-65). How many preventable deaths will take place this winter?
The latest figures from CSO show that the nett financial assets of Irish households increased by 27 billion euro in 2009 and gross financial assets have increased by a further 7 billion in 2010. Not a penny in tax on these assets has been imposed by the Labour government.
Homeless charities say demand for their services has increased by up to 40% in the current year. Yet HSE has just announced cuts to services to the homeless. Kathleen Lynch (Labour) is Minister for State at the Department of Health and children.
Please sign the Age Action Petition here http://www.emailmeform.com/builder/form/FOyR76aN2J6UCXnG2
Paddy Healy 086-4183732
FROM AGE ACTION IRELAND
Sign petition to help protect vulnerable older people this winter
Wed, 26/10/2011 – 15:23
Age Action is urging the Government to reverse cuts to the free gas and electricity units for pensioners, amid growing concern at the severe hardship which the cuts will have for the most vulnerable of older people this winter.
Read Full Statement http://www.ageaction.ie/sign-petition-help-protect-vulnerable-older-people-winter
How Low Can They Go?
Hundreds of older people die each winter in Ireland because they cannot afford to keep themselves warm. Lives could be saved if the Government reversed its decision to cut their electricity and gas units.
I call on the Government to reverse the cuts to the free gas/electricity units available under the Household Benefits Package, given the increased hardship it will cause for older people on low incomes.
Click on Link Below to sign the petition
http://www.emailmeform.com/builder/form/FOyR76aN2J6UCXnG2
Homeless services to be cut by 10%
CARL O’BRIEN
Irish Times Thu, Oct 27, 2011
HEALTH AUTHORITIES are cutting funding for homeless services in parts of the capital by up to 10 per cent over the coming winter months, despite growing pressure on services.
Service providers say the cuts will impact heavily on their ability to provide shelter and support to homeless people at a time when they are under strain.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) – one of the main funders of homeless services – told providers last week it is cutting between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of grants which were due to be paid between October and December of this year.
However, homeless charities say they have recorded increases in demand for services of between 20 and 40 per cent over the past year. Services say they are continuing to give out sleeping bags at night-time due to ongoing shortages of emergency beds.
Dublin Simon’s chief executive Sam McGuinness said: “With the harsh winter already upon us and demand for homeless accommodation stretching all service providers to the limit, it is unacceptable for the most vulnerable and destitute to suffer further HSE year-end panic cuts because of their spending excesses.”
Focus Ireland’s chief executive Joyce Loughnan said if deeper cuts were to be made at this late stage in the year, it would hit its ability to provide “vital lifeline services” to homeless people.
The funding cuts were confirmed this week by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive – a partnership run by the city’s four local authorities – which is in charge of organising homeless services in the capital.
The two main areas affected are Dublin south-west – which includes Tallaght, Clondalkin and Kildare – and Dublin south-central, which includes much of the inner city.
These areas are due to receive cuts of between 5 per cent and 10 per cent respectively, on top of cuts of 5 per cent earlier this year.
In a letter to one service provider dated October 13th, the HSE said: “It is recognised that maintaining services will require significant levels of change, flexibility and creativity.
“Therefore, you will need to make the savings to remain within the budget through value-for-money initiatives and other administrative efficiencies in order to achieve a break-even financial position by year’s end.”
In a statement, the Dublin Region Homeless Executive said the overall implication and impact of the cuts had been “fully considered” by the HSE.
It added there had not been a reduction in funding from the Department of the Environment, the other main source of public funding for homeless organisations.
In the meantime, the Dublin Region Homeless Executive has been working to secure longer-term beds for dozens of people in emergency accommodation to help alleviate pressure on services.
© 2011 The Irish Times
Fintan O’Toole Repies to Rabbitte on Oil and Gas
Bad politics behind great oil and gas giveaway
FINTAN O’TOOLE
Irish Times, Tue, Aug 23, 2011
OUR CHILDREN and grandchildren will see us as a weak and inept generation.
They will wonder how we blew the boom, why we put €30 billion into Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide, how we gave up our economic sovereignty without much of a fight. They will feel bitterness at the way we pushed them, as children, to the top of the queue for so-called austerity.
And unless we act now, that bitterness will turn to contempt. They will hate us for the way, as well as leaving them with a legacy of unpayable debt, we also gave away something that might have been of real use to them, the chance to use our natural gas and oil resources for their benefit.
I’m returning to this issue because it seems to me to be a touchstone for our entire political culture. We can use it to address three big questions: have we learned anything? Is there really a shift in the way we do politics? And have we any capacity for the kind of radical thinking we need?
The question of what we’ve learned is stark. In September 2008, our system of governance – Civil Service, regulators, government – faced a historic test. It failed catastrophically. Why? Because, under the pressure of the banking crisis, it fell back on its ingrained habits and attitudes. It had acquired the habit of doing what the banks asked it to do. In a closed system of decision-making, that habit made a grotesquely irrational decision seem like common sense.
Just as the Department of Finance was habituated to doing what the banks wanted, the mindset of the Department of Natural Resources is shaped by the perceived needs of the oil and gas companies. That mindset has proved to be resilient. Two successive ministers – Eamon Ryan and Pat Rabbitte – have entered it from the outside, with some history of scepticism, and quickly gone native. Each has ended up speaking a language that is indistinguishable from that of his Fianna Fáil predecessors.
Which brings us to the second question: has anything changed in our governing political culture? Leave aside for the moment the substantive issue of why we’re ceding control of our natural resources on the worst terms in the developed world. Just consider the way this is being done. It is closed, top-down, peremptory. Even our parliament doesn’t get to have any say.
Rabbitte’s position is that an Oireachtas committee can consider the licensing terms but that, in the meantime, he’ll go ahead and award the licences anyway. As a process, this is the same parody of democracy that has us where we are.
Third, is there the slightest possibility of imaginative thinking? Last week, I made a concrete suggestion: that the State seeks a partnership with Norway in the development of our oil and gas. It is not a mad idea. Norway has the money and expertise. In the 1970s, it offered us a deal on sharing oil and fisheries. Norway (unlike Ireland) has a large stake in the Corrib gas field. It is actively expanding its operations around the world.
Rabbitte replied to my piece in these pages last week. He didn’t dismiss this suggestion or show why it is absurd. Rather, he completely ignored it. He’s comfortable with a phoney argument between “fantasists” who think there’s a free pot of gold out in the Atlantic and pragmatists like himself. But the idea that there might be an imaginative pragmatism, a hard-headed defence of the public interest, simply cannot be countenanced.
And this, I’m afraid, is where official thinking is still at. It poses false alternatives: we either submit to the abject position of powerlessness we occupy or we’re deluding ourselves. Any notion that we might actually use the collective power we still have is literally unimaginable. So we have to accept “reality”, however miserable it may be.
Just how miserable it is is illustrated by figures cited by William Hederman in the Sunday Time s. He quotes the former managing director of the Corrib Gas project, Brian O’Cathain, as predicting that the State may end up with as little as €340 million in tax over its lifetime. O’Cathain actually suggested at a public debate in December that Corrib may in the end pay no tax at all.
Nor is there anything in the current regime to force companies even to land oil and gas in Ireland; they can ship it or pipe it to the United Kingdom or Holland if they wish. There is no guarantee of a single Irish job being created. But none of this is even up for discussion.
If you knew nothing at all about the issues at stake here and merely looked at the process by which decisions are being made, you’d put your shirt on those decisions being bad ones. It’s always a good bet that closed, top-down policymaking, with minimal information and no serious willingness to consider alternatives will have awful results. We know that from very bitter experience. Or we would do if we hadn’t forgotten it already.
© 2011 The Irish Times
Councillor Cian O Callaghan,Labour Party, Fingal Co Council, has Described Minister Rabittes position on development and control of our Oil and Gas resources as “rubbish”
cian.ocallaghan@votelabour.ie or 086 286 6631. http://cianocallaghan.com/2011/08/response-to-article-by-minister-rabbitte-on-oil-and-gas-deposit-taxation/
Letter to Irish Times Friday Aug 19
Sir, – Minister for Energy Pat Rabbitte’s assertion that Ireland’s tax take on our oil and gas: “compares favourably with all similar countries but not with Norway” (Opinion, August 19th) is misguided.
A report by the US government accountability office in 2007 found that Ireland has the second lowest government take on oil and gas deposits of 142 countries studied. Furthermore the headline figure of 25 per cent tax cited by Mr Rabbitte will never be applied under our current taxation regime due to the generous availability of tax loopholes to offset exploration and drilling costs.
It is time that we ditch the failed economic policies of the last government; and instead we should adopt the European norm in tax take for oil and gas. – Yours, etc,
CIAN O’CALLAGHAN, Howth,
Response To Article By Minister Rabbitte On Oil And Gas Deposit Taxation
This is a statement that I, Cian O’Callaghan, issued to media outlets today:
“In today’s Irish Times Minister Pat Rabbitte T.D. argues that Ireland’s tax take on our oil and gas: “compare favourably with all similar countries but not with Norway.” This is complete nonsense.
“A report by the US Government Accountability Office in 2007 found that Ireland has the second lowest government take on oil and gas deposits of 142 countries studied. The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources reported in 2006 that average government takes range from 25% -90% across the world. They further found that the European average government take excluding Ireland is between 35% – 65%. The assertion that the Irish government take at 25% compares favourably only rings true for the corporations that wish to exploit our resources. For the rest of us it represents an insane act of economic treason, offering to give away some €750 billion worth of oil and gas over the coming decades at the worst possible terms and conditions for the Irish people and Irish economy.
“The headline figure of 25% tax cited by Minister Rabbitte will never be applied under our current taxation regime due to the generous availability of tax loopholes to offset exploration and drilling costs. Recent Research by William Hederman (see http://www.irishoilandgas.com) reveals that corporations may pay as little as 7% of the revenue from Irish oil and gas fields. The application of tax on declared profits only and not on the actual wealth and value of the oil and gas reserves further benefits oil corporations to our detriment.
“Minister Rabbitte further argues that a lack of interest from multi-national companies in Ireland over the last two decades vindicates the tax regime that was put in place by Fianna Fáil. He fails to acknowledge that our oil and gas reserves are now a much more attractive proposition for exploration and drilling than two decades ago. There are three key reasons for this:
• First as larger oil and gas deposits elsewhere are depleted, attention is turning to smaller deposits such as those located on our offshore.
• Secondly rising oil and gas prices determine that smaller deposits are now a viable proposition.
• Thirdly technological advances in exploration and resource exploitation over the last two decades have increased profitability rates from smaller fields.
“These three key changes have dramatically altered the oil and gas exploration market requiring that we urgently re-examine our tax take before the latest round of licences are granted. It is time that we ditch the failed economic policies of Fianna Fáil and instead we should adopt at least the European norm in tax take for oil and gas. It is absolutely certain that our off shore fields will be exploited over time. The only question is will we benefit from the exploration of the natural resources that we own.”
Fintan O’Toole’s original article is here:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0816/1224302525090.html
Pat Rabbitte’s article is here:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0818/1224302638286.html
Labour Party and SIPTU Capitulate on Low Pay
From Paddy Healy 086-4183732
Mandate Trade Union and Unite the Union have roundly condemned the Government proposals to cut the low pay of over 200,000 employees.
The proposals will give rise to reduction of JLC rates generally, elimination of Sunday premium, and allow employers to claim inability to pay.
Thousands face pay cuts after JLC reforms are published
From Daily News Digest of Unite The Union
“The government published its proposed reforms of the JLC structure yesterday. In a move which the Minister admits will lead to a ‘lowering of hiring costs’, the number of JLC’s will be reduced from 13 to six and there will be only one rate with two additional discretionary ones. The premium for Sunday pay will be swept away to be replaced on paper with guidelines for employers, and bosses will now be able to seek derogation through a new inability to pay clause. This is terrible news for all low paid workers and those whose wages will be set with reference to them, as well as for the economy which will now have less money, less tax and little prospect of anything other than increased unemployment.—-
UIONS NOT AT ONE OVER JLC REFORMS
UNITE sees the reforms of the JLC structure as a dark day for those on low pay and for all working people. That view is broadly shared in the Irish Times analysis but not fully across the union movement.”
“The trade union Unite said last night it would not rule out industrial action in protest at the Government’s planned measures. The plan was also strongly criticised by Mandate, the union representing retail workers.” Martin Wall Irish Times, July 29
But following the surrender of the Labour Party in Cabinet, SIPTU has described the proposals as “relatively positive” on RTE Television News, July 28 and has given the government plan “a cautious welcome” (Martin Wall, Irish Times July 29).
This is a dark day for Irelands biggest union which was built by Larkin and Connolly
The trade union affiliation of the new government appointees to the board of Solas (replacing Fás) will be of considerable interest
The extent of the attack on the low-paid can be gauged from the remarks by John Douglas, General Secretary , MANDATE, on Morning Ireland, to-day, July 29
“This is devastating for 200,000 workers- following increases in gas prices, mortgages, food prices, thousands will be driven over the edge- majority are women earning no more than 9.50 an hour trying to put food on table-this is not to create jobs but to lower pay and conditions-it won’t create a single extra job. When Margaret Thatcher dismantled the wage councils in England ,it did not create one extra job-the research shows this despite the ministers claims”
Analysis
The EU-IMF deal commits the Irish Government to a “review of wage setting mechanisms”. There may have been additional secret assurances given by the previous government but the EU-IMF Deal does not specify any particular measure.
Bruton had made his proposals before the JLC system was struck down by the courts on constitutional grounds. The changes to pay rates, conditions of service and terms of reference in the proposals have nothing to do with the decision of the court. The proposals for these changes pre-date the courts decision. There are changes in procedures which are genuinely required in the light of the courts decision. In the wake of the court decision there are no legally enforceable Employment Regulation Orders (ERO) in existence in the state. The process of establishing new constitutional EROs will have to commence from scratch. This will take several months during which no legally binding EROs will exist.
If the Fine Gael/Labour Government were interested in protecting the 200,000 employees covered by the original EROs at the earliest possible date, they would have introduced the procedural measures contained in the proposals published yesterday before the Dail was adjourned for the summer one week ago or alternatively, they could have kept the Dail in session to deal with the matter.
Government “spin” to the effect that the measures were announced yesterday to protect workers in the light of the court decision is entirely false and misleading.
The way that the matter has been handled ensures that workers will remain unprotected by EROs for several months and when new EROs are produced their provisions will be far inferior for workers to the ones that have been struck down by the courts.
Job Creation?
The Minister and the employer body IBEC continually argue that pay and conditions under EROs must be reduced in order to create jobs. There is no evidence for this. Indeed, the Duffy/Walsh Report to the Minister for Enterprise, Employment and Innovation concludes inter alia : “We have concluded that lowering the basic JLC rates to the level of the minimum wage rate is unlikely to have a substantial effect on employment.” and “ we conclude that it is not accurate to suggest that the body of primary employment rights legislation currently in force adequately covers matters dealt with by EROs and REAs.” According to the OECD, Ireland suffers from some of the highest levels of low‐pay. Over 21% of full‐time employees are ‘low‐paid, compared to a Eurozone average of 14.7% and EU Commission data shows that labour costs (include wages and employers’ contributions) in the Food & Accommodation sector in Ireland are 6% below the EU-15 average.
Despite the fact that the above information has been contained in several statements by trade unions and ULA TDs , Minister Bruton was allowed to repeatedly assert that the measures would to create jobs in interviews on Drivetime and RTE News without the contrary evidence being put to him. IBEC spokespeople have also been allowed on all media to claim that 40% of restaurants do not open on Sunday “due to the Sunday premium”. Of course many restaurants have always remained closed on Sunday because their trade depends on demand from locally employed people who do not work on Sundays. Restaurant closures, limited opening hours and increased Sunday closing is due to the reduction in demand caused by increased unemployment and income reductions due to recent budgets. The IBEC claim is a gross abuse of dubious statistics based on surveys of restaurant owners. “They would say that, wouldn’t they?”
Key Measures
The Minister asserts that new JLC rates will be lower. This is because the terms of reference for the wage setting process have been changed to the disadvantage of the worker side. “These include competitiveness factors, average hourly rates set in comparable sectors in Ireland’s main trading partners as well as employment and unemployment rates” Martin Wall, Irish Times,July 29. For example, the employer side will now be able to argue that pay rates should be lowered due to the extent of unemployment. This is a classic use of unemployment by employers to drive down wages. It has no justification except capitalist greed. It will now be supported by statutory terms of reference agreed by the Labour Party.
The Minister claims that these new lower rates will not affect existing workers who are protected by the terms of their current employment contracts. The minister knows well that existing employees can be pressurised in many ways to agree to reductions in existing pay rates if these are not legally binding. That is a major reason why legally binding JLC rates exist. Employers have many ways of discriminating in favour of new cheaper workers (eg allocation of overtime, denial of promotion, assignment to easier or more pleasant job etc). In addition, a new businesses paying lower rates will be able to undermine existing businesses paying higher rates. This is also the case in relation to the new provision of allowing businesses to claim inability to pay. An employer being undermined by competitors can then pressurise employees to accept the lower legal rate or face closure and unemployment. The original JLC system was designed to prevent this “race to the bottom” in competing businesses dependent on finite demand.
The new JLCs will be precluded from setting a Sunday premium. The suggestion that the provisions of The Working Time Act is an adequate replacement to protect workers is completely false. Under that Act the employer can simply give another day off instead. This effectively means that staff can be made to work at the flat rate. Sunday premium has been simply abolished.
————————————————————————————————
The article below from Irish Independent July 27 (below) indicates that the Labour Party has agreed to Government attacks on the low-paid at the cabinet meeting held yesterday.
In a time-honoured and cowardly manner, the deal was done and announced while the Dail was not sitting and just before the ministers went on holiday. This will form a precedent for further attacks on the incomes of all employees. The 100 Euro tax on homes was also agreed at the cabinet meeting. Though net financial assets (exclusive of houses and land) increased by 27 billion Euro in 2009 and are expected to have increased by a similar amount in 2010, no tax whatever has been placed on these assets
Paddy Healy 086-4183732 paddy.healy@eircom.net
Member National Steering Committee United Left Alliance
A fuller report from Irish Independent July 28 (below) on the Labour capitulation on Low Pay is carried below.
Not alone has the Labour Party agreed to the scrapping of the Sunday premium for low paid workers, it has also agreed to allow employers to claim inability to pay and ,if successful, to pay a lesser rate for normal working days. In circumstances in which demand is being continuously removed from the economy by government, this can only lead to continuous reduction in the direction of the minimum wage and the effective collapse of the system. Compliant employers will be progressively undermined by those paying a lower rate.
The scrapping of the Sunday premium will simply add to the profits of highly successful multi-national retail chains at the expense of their employees.
The 100th anniversary of the founding of the Labour Party in Clonmel by Larkin and Connolly in 1912 which will be held next year will be a in the nature of a wake.
The actions of the Labour Party are an insult to the memory of Larkin and Connolly. Larkin is rightly celebrated for his heroic battles on behalf of the low-paid. In addition, Connolly is celebrated for his heroic stand for Irish Independence and sovereignty. But the Labour Party is allowing internatonal financiers to suck the lifeblood out of Ireland and even allowing them to dictate cuts in low pay under the EU-IMF Deal. When it is considered that cuts in low pay will actually worsen the national finances by lowering the tax take, the capitulation of Gilmore on the JLC issue must be the most abject surrender of Irish sovereignty conceivable.
Paddy Healy 086-4183732
Member of National Steering Committee, United Left Alliance
By Fionnan Sheahan and Lise Hand
Irish Independent Wednesday July 27 2011
Low paid workers will be entitled to slightly more than the minimum wage working on a Sunday under a new deal to replace the existing system of setting wages.
New rules governing the wages in the catering, hotels, retail, grocery, contract cleaning and some other sectors were agreed by the Government yesterday.
Jobs Minister Richard Bruton is understood to have struck a deal with Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore on the contentious issue of the Joint Labour Committees (JLCs).
The Government agreed yesterday to draw up new laws to reform the area after the High Court ruled the wage setting agreements were unconstitutional.
Coalition sources said the current rates of Sunday premium pay will be done away with, but employees working on a Sunday will still be entitled to slightly more than the minimum wage — just not as much as they are currently paid.
However, what has yet to be determined is how much more than the minimum wage will be paid.
After attacking Mr Bruton on his proposals to reform the area, the Labour Party was said to be keen to get the legislation in place to provide protection to workers following the High Court case. A spokesperson for the Labour Party said the legislation was agreed on by the Cabinet.
Last night Mr Bruton said: “It will be a system that will protect workers, it will be robust but will introduce the reforms so that we can exploit the opportunities for employment.”
- Fionnan Sheahan and Lise Hand
Employers can claim an ‘inability to pay’ under wage reforms
By Fionnan Sheahan and Anne-Marie Walshe
Irish Independent, Thursday July 28 2011
Employers will be allowed to claim an inability to pay the rates agreed under the wage-setting system for low-paid staff, the Irish Independent has learned.
Sunday premium pay for those covered by the Joint Labour Committees (JLCs) will also be scrapped.
The controversial new rules governing the wages in the catering, hotels, retail, grocery, contract cleaning and some other sectors will be announced today.
Ahead of the publication, the Labour Party was accused last night of capitulating in an attack on the low paid.
Under the reforms to the JLCs, low-paid staff will be entitled to the same protection as other employees for working on a Sunday.
The existing Organisation of Working Time Act allows for staff to be compensated for working on Sunday through the negotiation of extra pay, an increased average wage across the week or a day off in lieu.
In reality, though, the scrapping of the Sunday premium payments will mean a pay cut for staff in those sectors who work on that day.
The number of JLC agreements is also widely expected to be reduced substantially.
Jobs Minister Richard Bruton is understood to have struck a deal with Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore, granting some concessions from his original proposals.
After coming under attack from the Labour Party, Mr Bruton is believed to have got through the bulk of his proposals.
The minister’s hand was strengthened substantially by a High Court ruling that JLCs were unconstitutional and pressure from the IMF and EU to reform the area.
The new deal will have to be cleared with the troika lending Ireland the €85bn bailout.
The Government is also believed to have accepted the recommendation on the introduction of an inability-to-pay clause for employers.
The expert report on the area said there should be a “derogation on economic grounds” introduced, where the employer can claim it would damage the viability of the firm and cause job losses if they had to pay the rates agreed.
The United Left Alliance said the deal was done “in a time-honoured and cowardly manner”, announced while the Dail wasn’t sitting and just before ministers took holidays.
- Fionnan Sheahan and Anne-Marie Walshe
Fight New Pay and Pension Cuts-Vote Paddy Healy NOW!
VOTE Paddy Healy, Former President, Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI), Seanad Candidate, NUI Panel. Blog http://paddyhealy.wordpress.com
Endorsed by Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (I. N. M.O)
Fight New Pay and Pension Cuts. Why not a Tax Levy on the Super-Rich?
NEW PAY CUTS
Marie O’Halloran, Irish Times, Sat April 16
Mr Noonan said the Government did not want to make pay cuts, but “we have to make savings in the payroll bill of the public service”.
He said the previous government put it in as a condition in the memorandum of understanding with the IMF and EU that there would be “further pay cuts in public service pay unless the savings run through from the other initiatives already taken”, because these were part of the conditions “on which we draw down funding”.
Mr Howlin said this was already in the Croke Park agreement and “the implementation team and the unions understand that”. (From Paddy Healy-This is a reference to the “escape clause” for government in Croke Park Deal. The Government can withdraw the commitment to avoid further pay cuts or compulsory redundancies within the terms of the Agreement. Government is therefore expected to hold that new pay cuts are not a breach of the agreement and that changes to conditions of service already implemented have become contractual and cannot be withdrawn by public servants)
New Pension Cuts
From Original EU/IMF Memorandum of Understanding (from PH-the measures below are expected to be more severe than planned as economic growth projections have recently been halved)
Actions for the fourth review (actions to be completed by end Q4-2011)
- The budget will provide for a reduction of expenditure in 2012 of €2,100m including:
- Social expenditure reductions.
- Reduction of public service numbers. and public service pension adjustments.
- Other programme expenditure, and reductions in capital expenditure.
The Authorities will introduce measures to ensure that the deficit reduction targets as set out
in the National Recovery Plan are achieved.
The Super Rich-These have the money that was recklessly borrowed abroad by Irish Banks. Why not recover this money from them through a tax levy?
According to “the Wealth of the Nation Report”(Bank of Ireland) 2008
In 2007
5% had 40% of all wealth
That’s 320b or an average of 4.2b per household
There were 33,000 millionaires
UNITE the Union (Economist Michael Taft) has estimated that the assets of the Super-Rich 5% are probably now worth about 250billion(down from 320) and has called for a levy on them.
ICTU say in their 10 Point Plan For A Better Fairer Way
“We know that the top 1 per cent of the population made about €75 billion during the boom era. Specifically, it can be computed from revenue data that a minimum of €66 billion was made by individuals between 2002 and 2008 – almost €10 billion a year. The top 1 per cent in 2007 held 20 per cent of the wealth, the top 2 per cent held 30 per cent and the top 5 per cent held 40 per
cent. How can this money have disappeared because for every developer who paid over the odds for land there had to be an owner who received the money? “
Paddy Healy, Former President, TUI, 086-4183732 paddy.healy@eircom.net
Paddy Healy, Seanad Candidate-Policy Position
Tá Leagan Gaeilge faoi bhun an phíosa seo
Paddy Healy, Former President, TUI,
Independent Candidate for Seanad Eireann
Endorsed Irish Nurses and Mid-Wives Organisation (INMO)
Supported by Signatures of 167 Public Servants across all grades!
Tireless Campaigner for Education and Public Services
An Independent Voice for All Public Servants including Teachers, Lecturers, Social Workers, Health Workers, All Administrative and Maintenance Staff , and all Public Service Pensioners as New Government Promises to eliminate 25,000 Jobs
A Voice for Academic Freedom As New Government Reinforces Existing Threats and Department of Education threatens further pay cuts for Lecturers.
A Voice For Post-Doctoral Researchers,Postgrads and Temporary Teachers
A Voice for all employees, the unemployed, Occupational Pensioners and the Needy at Home and Abroad
Tireless Campaigner
Paddy is Chairman of the National Public Service Alliance—an informal alliance of public service trade union activists which is fighting public service pay cuts, pension levy, work overload, staffing moratorium and destruction of conditions of service under the Croke Park Deal
He is Convenor of the Campaign for Academic Freedom which recently held a gathering of 200 academics in the Gresham Hotel to resist threats to academic freedom, permanency and tenure arising out of the implementation of the Croke Park Deal in Third level institutions: The New Government in its programme threatens: “We will introduce radical reform in third level institutions to maximise existing funding, in particular, reform of academic contracts and will encourage greater specialisation by educational institutions.”
He is resisting the imposition of business models on 3rd Level education as proposed in the Hunt Report
He is organising opposition to the shameful treatment of Post-doctoral Researchers in third level institutions and seeking a permanent career structure for researchers and a new deal under which Postgraduate Students carrying out teaching work would get properly paid for each hour worked. He is totally opposed to the attempt to make Student Nurses work for nothing.
He is Chairman of the Campaign to Reverse the Pension Cuts which is organising a legal challenge to the recent public service pension cuts. He is fighting for the removal of the Universal Social Charge which is unfairly reducing private occupational pensions.
He is campaigning against cuts in public services such as health, education and social work and the elimination of jobs under the staffing moratorium.
He is campaigning for the restoration of the full quota of Special Duties and Assistant Principal posts in schools
Job Creation and Investment
He advocates a major programme of state job creation in sophisticated modern industry to employ the 100,000 qualified people who are now on the dole and being forced to emigrate
He is continuing his long standing campaign to increase investment in Education at all levels.
About Paddy Healy
More at http://wp.me/PKzXa-2
Chair National Public Service Alliance, Global Solidarity Champion,
Former President Teachers Union of Ireland(TUI), Lecturer in Physics(retd),
Research Interest: Musical Instrument Acoustics, Former member of
Governing Body and Academic Council DIT,
Ag Freastail ar Daonscoil na Mumhan sa Rinn gach blian,
Former Treasurer Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed(INOU),
Former Executive Member Dublin Council of Trade Unions.
He Lives at Griffith Court, Fairview, D 3 and is a native of Clonmel, Co Tipperary
Radical Change Needed
To make possible the objectives set out above, Fundamental Change is required.
Government Policy
Irish sovereignty must be recovered by facing down the EU and the IMF and insisting on a structured negotiated default under which the debts of banks, then privately owned, would not be paid while rescuing small investors and credit unions. The capitulation of the New Government to the EU/IMF will lead to disaster.
Mortgage Debt on principal domestic residences which was inflated during the property bubble must be reduced. Interest rates must be frozen and the capital sum reduced to current house values. Evictions must be banned.
The 90 Billion lent out recklessly by finance houses since 2003 must be recovered. This can be done by the imposition of a tax on large assets outside the domestic residence and the farm.
Reductions in Social Welfare, and increased taxes on the lowly paid must be reversed.
Cuts in Public services must end now. Cuts in disability services and in Special Needs Provision are particularly reprehensible
Trade Union Reform
The ICTU leadership has failed the members of trade unions. Members of the leadership sat on the Board of the Central Bank and on the the National Social and Economic Council(NESC) and on bodies such as the Board of Fás through the period of reckless borrowing and extreme right-wing policies. Apart from faint bleatings, nobody shouted stop.
Now there are 450,000 people on the dole, one thousand per week emigrating, public service pay and pensions cut, thousands of frontline posts eliminated, massive increase in workload of teachers, lecturers, nurses, other health professionals, social workers and public servants generally, cuts in social welfare benefits etc
No w the, The SIPTU leader who is also ICTU President is reported as having given qualified support to the formation of a FG-LAB coalition whose programme for Government contains a commitment to eliminate 25,000 public service jobs!! “Siptu chief Jack O’Connor claimed the Programme for Government was the best of the alternatives available” Irish Independent 07/03
There has been a total leadership failure in ICTU
The calling off of campaigns and the supine acceptance of cuts and income reductions has disoriented thousands of members.
In my forthcoming book which is available on line at http://wp.me/pKzXa-gw ,I argue for complete renewal of the trade union movement both in its leadership and structures to restore control of the unions to members. This renewal must come from within the movement without legislative interference. The title of the work is : “How ICTU Failed US, the Necessity for Election and Regular Re-Election of General Secretaries.”
Supporters Who Recommend NO 1 Vote for Paddy Healy
I am very grateful to the 167 public servants who are recommending a vote for me to colleagues. I regret that the full list can only be read on my Blog immediately below this post or at:
All have added their names in a personal capacity
Domhnall Sheridan, Chair Dublin Colleges (DIT) Branch, TUI
Cathleen Bowen, Retired Hospital Manager,
Secretary, Campaign for Reversal of Public Service Pension Cuts, Cork
Ben Bishop Chair Dublin City Post Primary Branch, TUI
Dr Colmán Etchingham, Chair NUI Maynooth Branch
Executive Member, Irish Federation of University Teachers
Prof Vincent Toal, School of Physics, DIT
Oisin Kelly, Former Education Officer, UCD Students Union
Prof Kathleen Lynch, Equality Studies, UCD
John O’Sullivan, Lecturer in Engineering, CIT, Cork
Dr Gordon Dalton, Chair Association of Research Contract Staff, UCC,
President of Irish Research Staff Association.
Sean Connolly,Teacher,Rathmines College of Further Education. Dublin
Professor James Heffron MRIA, Department of Biochemistry, UCC
Prof Tadhg Foley, Emeritus, NUI Galway
Dr. Tony Bonfield, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick.
Prof Sean Tobin, Emeritus, NUI Galway
Dr Keith Breen, School of Politics, QUB
Peter Homan,Outreach Worker , South Dublin, HSE
Prof Mary Gallagher, French Studies, UCD
Professor Dermot Barnes-Holmes, Psychology, NUI Maynooth
Andy Storey, Lecturer, School of Politics,UCD,
Chair Action From Ireland (AFRI)
Donnacha O’hEallaithe, Indreabhán, Conamara
Dr Kevin Farrell, Executive Member, TUI
Gerald Brennan, Chairman Cork City Schools, TUI
Barry Williams, Chair, Co Louth Branch, TUI
Manus Brennan, Executive Member, TUI , Donegal Town
Deputy Seamus Healy, TD, South Tipperary
James McMorrow, Co Leitrim Branch Secretary, TUI
Josephine O Donnell, CEO VEC, Co Longford (Retired)
Prof Michael Cronin, DCU
Fergus Hastings, Staff Officer, GISC, Castlebar.
Professor Gary Henehan, Food Science, DIT
John Evoy, Gorey Adult Learning Centre Manager, Co. Wexford VEC
Dr Eabhnat Ní Fhloinn,Director, Maths Centre, DCU
Andy Storey, Lecturer, School of Politics,UCD, Chair AFRI
Kieran Walshe, BoyneBranch, TUI
Oliver McCormack, Teacher (RETD), Tullamore, Co Offally
Dr David O Brien, Lecturer, DIT
Bernie Freeman, Clerical officer, HSe West, Nenagh, Co Tipp
Dr Eilish O’Donohoe, Lecturer in Chemistry, DIT
Aitheasc Seanaid
Paddy Healy, Iar-Uachtarán, Aontas Múinteoirí na hÉireann
Iarrthóir Neamhspleách do Sheanad Éireann
Tacaithe ag Eagras Altraí is Cnáimhseach na hÉireann
Tacaithe ag breis agus 167 Seirbhíseach Poiblí !
Feachtasóir gan Staonadh thar cheann Seirbhísí Oideachais agus Poiblí
Guth Neamhspleách do na Seirbhísigh Phoiblí go léir, ina measc, Múinteoirí, Léachtóirí, Oibrithe Sóisialta, Oibrithe Sláinte, na Baill Fhoirne go léir Riaracháin agus Cothabhála, agus Pinsinéirí go léir na Seirbhíse Poiblí, ag an am cinniúnach seo mar a bhfuil an Rialtas Nua díreach chun 25,000 post a chur ar neamhní
Guth ar son Saoirse Acadúla díreach mar atá an Rialtas Nua ag cur leis na Bagairtí atá ann roimhe seo agus an Roinn Oideachais ag Bagairt Tuilleadh Gearrthacha fós ar phá Léachtóirí
Guth thar cheann Taighdeoirí Iar-Dhochtúireachta agus Iarchéime, agus Múinteoirí Neamh-bhuana
Guth thar cheann na bhFostaithe, na Neamh-Fhostaithe, na bPinsinéirí Ceirde, agus iad sin atá i nGátar anseo in Éirinn agus thar Lear
Feachtasóir gan Staonadh
Is Cathaoirleach é Paddy ar Chomhar Náisiúnta na Seirbhíse Poiblí, ar comhar neamhfhoirmiúil é de ghníomhaithe ceardchumann sa tseirbhís phoiblí atá ag troid i gcoinne raon ábhar – na gearrthacha pá sa tseirbhís, an tobhach pinsin, an forualach oibre, an moratóir ar athsholáthar foirne, agus scrios na gcoinníolacha oibre trí bhíthin shocrú Páirc an Chrócaigh
Is Tionólaí é ar an bhFeachtas faoi Shaoirse Acadúil a raibh tionól de 200 acadóirí san Óstán Gresham, chun na bagairtí ar shaoirse acadúil, ar bhuaine phostanna agus ar shealbhaíocht atá á bhrú ar aghaidh faoi shocrú Páirc an Chrócaigh sna h-institiúidí tríú leibhéal, a chloí. I gclár an Rialtais Nua bagraítear, ‘Tabharfaimíd isteach leasú bunúsach sna h-institiúidí tríú leibhéal chun an t-uasmhéid a bhaint amach leis an maoiniú reatha, agus go príomha, na conarthaí acadúla a leasú agus níos mó speisialtóireachta a spreagadh sna h-institiúidí oideachais’. Tá Paddy ag cur i gcoinne mionsamhlacha gnó a chur i bhfeidhm ar oideachas tríú leibhéal, mar a mholadh i dTuarascáil Hunt.
Tá sé ag eagrú freasúra i gcoinne na mí-úsáide suaraí náirí a riartar ar thaighdeoirí iar-dhochtúireachta sna h-institiúidí tríú leibhéal agus ag iarraidh struchtúr buan slí bheatha a bhunú do thaighdeoirí agus socrú nua ina n-iocfaí i gceart na mic léinn iarchéime a dhéanann obair mhúinteoireachta, agus é sin i gcomhair gach uair oibre. Tá sé lán i gcoinne na hiarrachta atá ar siúl chun na mic léinn altranais a chur ag obair gach phá.
Is Cathaoirleach é ar an bhFeachtas chun an Gearrthacha Pinsin a Chur ar Chúl atá ag eagrú agóide dlíthiúla i gcoinne na ngearrthacha pinsin sa tseirbhís phoiblí a rinneadh le déanaí.
Tá sé ag troid chun an Táille Shóisialta Uilíoch a chur ar cheal, táille a laghdaíonn pinsin phríobháideacha cheirde go héagórach.
Tá sé i mbhun feachtais i gcoinne na ngearrthacha sna seirbhísí poiblí cosúil le sláinte, oideachas agus obair shóisialta, agus cailiúint na bpost sa mhoratóir ar athsholáthar foirne.
Tá sé i mbhun feachtais freisin chun an cion iomlán post dualgas speisialta agus leas-phríomhoide a thabhairt ar ais sna scoileanna.
Cruthú Post agus Infheistíocht
Molann Paddy ollchlár cruthaithe post ag an stát in ard-tionsclaíochtaí nua-aoiseacha a earcódh 100,000 duine cáilithe atá anois ar an dól agus faoi bhrú imeacht ar an mbád bán.
Tá sé ag leanúint lena fheachtas fadtéarmach chun an infheistíocht san Oideachas a mhéadú ag gach leibhéal.
Tá tuilleadh mar gheall ar Paddy Healy ag http://wp.me/PKzXa-2
Supporters Who Recommend A NO 1 Vote for Paddy Healy
” You have to hand it to Paddy Healy who appears to be leading the fight for academic freedom, now under threat from the Croke Park Agreement and the Hunt Report.
Healy, the former TUI president and future Seanad candidate, secured over 150 signatories to a protest letter in this newspaper. The signatories included TCD academic Hugh Gibbons, president of the “rival” Irish Federation of University Teachers.
Healy also organised Saturday’s well-attended protest meeting in the Gresham Hotel in Dublin”.Sean Flynn, Irish Times Jan 11
Supporters Who Recommend NO 1 Vote for Paddy Healy in Seanad Election
I am very grateful to the 150 public servants who are recommending a vote for me to colleagues. I regret that the full list could not be printed on my election literature.
All have added their names in a personal capacity
Domhnall Sheridan, Chair Dublin Colleges (DIT) Branch, TUI
Cathleen Bowen, Retired Hospital Manager, Secretary, Campaign for Reversal of PS Pension Cuts, Cork
Ben Bishop Chair Dublin City Post Primary Branch, TUI
Dr Colmán Etchingham, Chair NUI Maynooth Branch ,Executive Member, Irish Federation of University Teachers
Prof Vincent Toal, School of Physics, DIT
Prof Kathleen Lynch, Equality Studies, UCD
John O’Sullivan, Lecturer in Engineering, CIT, Cork
Dr Gordon Dalton, Chair Association of Research Contract Staff, UCC, President of Irish Research Staff Association.
Sean Connolly,Teacher,Rathmines College of Further Education. Dublin
Professor James Heffron MRIA, Department of Biochemistry, UCC
Prof Tadhg Foley, Emeritus, NUI Galway
Pirooz Daneshmandi, Global Solidarity
Dr. Tony Bonfield, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick.
Prof Sean Tobin, Emeritus, NUI Galway
Dr Keith Breen, School of Politics, QUB
Prof Daphne Gilbert, Emeritus, Mathematics, DIT
Peter Homan,Outreach Worker , South Dublin, HSE
Prof Mary Gallagher, French Studies, UCD
Professor Dermot Barnes-Holmes, Psychology, NUI Maynooth
Andy Storey, Lecturer, School of Politics,UCD, Chair Action From Ireland (AFRI)
Donnacha O’hEallaithe, Indreabhán, Conamara
Dr Kevin Farrell, Executive Member, TUI
Gerald Brennan, Chairman Cork City Schools, TUI
Dr. Kevin T. Kelly, Head of Department of Electrical Services, DIT
Barry Williams, Chair, Co Louth Branch, TUI
Manus Brennan, Executive Member, TUI , Donegal Town
Deputy Seamus Healy, TD, South Tipperary
James McMorrow, Co Leitrim Branch Secretary, TUI
Josephine O Donnell, CEO VEC, Co Longford (Retired)
Prof Michael Cronin, DCU
Fergus Hastings, Staff Officer, GISC, Castlebar.
Professor Gary Henehan, Food Science, DIT
John Evoy, Gorey Adult Learning Centre Manager, Co. Wexford VEC
Dr Eabhnat Ní Fhloinn,Director, Maths Centre, DCU
Andy Storey, Lecturer, School of Politics,UCD, Chair AFRI
Kieran Walshe, BoyneBranch, TUI
Oliver McCormack, Teacher (RETD), Tullamore, Co Offally
Dr David O Brien, Lecturer, DIT
Dr Eilish O’Donohoe, Lecturer in Chemistry, DIT
Tom Fennell, lecturer in Marketing (retd.), DIT
Dr Catherine Lowry-O’Neill,Lecturer in Education ,WIT
Pat Ahern, Lecturer in Maths, CIT, Cork
Dr David Meehan, Lecturer,Faculty of Engineering,DIT Bolton Street .
Dr Bridget McAdam-O’Connell, School of Sociology,,UCC
Therese Downes, Counsellor, HSE
Tina MacVeigh, Community Worker, Dublin 8
Denise Dunphy, Lecturer in Media, DIT
Gallagher, Martin , Revenue Comissioners, CPSU
Dr Thomaé Kakouli-Duarte, Lecturer in Biosciences, IT Carlow
Fran Mansfield, Retired, Public Servant
Susan Flannery, Lecturer in Accounting, CIT, Cork
Theo Smith, Porter, St James Hospital
Anne Ryan, Retired Teacher, Mrino College , CDVEC
Mary Brennan,Insurance Manager,HSE
Dr Peadar O’Grady, Consultant Child Psychiatrist.
Joseph O’Donnell, TUI, Stranorlar, Co Donegal
Dr Louis Armstrong, Head of School of Biological Sciences, DIT
Dr Juliet Bressan,Addiction Services,Best Selling Author ,HSE
Bernadette Mooney,IT Professional,HSE
Rita O’Neill,National Education Welfare Board
Domhnall Sheridan, Chair, Dublin Colleges Branch TUI
Siobhán Healy, Dietician, Tallaght Hospital
Anne O Donnell, Maths Teacher (Retired)
Anne-Michelle Healy , Librarian, Dun Laoire/ Rathdown Co council
Ella Darcy, Open Farm, Pallas Hill Drombane Co Tipp
Billy Darcy, Teagasc Adviser, (Retired), Pallas Hill , Drumbane , Co Tipp
Aisling Healy, Muinteoir Gaeilge, Clochar na Trocaire, Carraig nu Súire
Johnny McCarthy, Lecturer in Music, CIT Cork School of Music
Camillus Healy, EMTA (retired), HSE, Clonmel
Kevin Hurley, UCD (retired)
Dr BrianMurray, Lecturer of Chemistry, IT Tallaght
Dr Barbara BradbyDepartment of Sociology, Trinity College
Theresa Urbainczyk, Associate Professor, Classics, University College Dublin
Marie Humphrys, Vice Chair, Dublin City post primary Branch TUI
Thomond Coogan, Administrator, Adult Education, UCD, Dublin
Dr Sarah Alyn Stacey, Senior Lecturer, FTCD,French Department,Trinity College
Jim Darcy, Croke Park, Cumann Lúth-Chleas Gael
Liz Farrell Chair, Co Carlow Branch, TUI
Dr Paul O’Brien,Lecturer,Faculty of Visual Culture,NCAD
Oliver McCormack, Teacher of Mathematics(RETD), Tullamore, Co Offally
Owen McCormack CIE worker, Trade union activist.
Eimear Finnegan,Social Worker, HSE, Swords
Siofra Pierse, Lecturer in French, UCD
ProfessorDiane Negra, Film Studies, UCD
Barry Mc Intyre , Sec IADT Branch ,TUI
Anne-Marie Luby, Principal,TUI, Killybeggs, Co Donegal
Pat Fleming, Co. Carlow TUI.
Caroline Brady,Administrator,Vice-President for Students, Tierney Building, UCD
Patsi Lynch, Retired, HSE, Kilkenny
Pat Corcoran, Anti Cuts and Anti War Activist.
Prof Liam Breatnach , School of Celtic Studies, DI
Camillus Healy, EMTA (retired), HSE, Clonmel
Nuala Buckley, Retired Sec Teacher, Inniscarra, Cork
Anne Ryan, Retired Teacher, Marino College , CDVEC
Ben Bishop Chair Dublin City Post Primary branch, TUI
Mary Bushe, Technical Officer – Assessment Unit, UCD, Dublin
Dr Leonie Duignan, School of Celtic Studies, NUI Maynooth, Co Kildare.
Dr Judith Devlin , Lecturer in History, UCD
Dr Bridget McAdam-O’Connell, School of Sociology,,UCC
Dr Jürgen Uhlich, Department of Irish and Celtic languages,Trinity College
DR Veronica O’Dwyer, Lecturer, DIT, Dublin
Antaine Ó Faracháin, Leachtoir i nGaeilge, DIT
Dr Wolfgang Marx , lecturer in Music,
Prof. Pat Goodman Lecturer/researcher DIT
Piaras Mac Éinrí, Department of Geography, UCC.
Dr Bernadette Flanagan,Head of Research, All Hallows (DCU),
Dr. Kevin Farrell, Member of the National Executive, TUI
Dore Fischer, Lecturer, Dublin Institute of Technology.
Mike FitzGibbon, Lecturer, UCC
Patty Gray, Lecturer in anthropology, NUIM
Enda Murphy , Lecturer in Geography, UCD
Professor Jim McKernan, College Of Education, University of East Carolina.
Martin Marjoram, Lecturer, Branch Chair of IT Tallaght TUI
Domhnall Sheridan, Branch Chair, Dublin Colleges(DIT) Branch TUI
Dr Michael Carr, Vice Chair, Dublin Colleges (DIT) Branch TUI
Emer McGann, Assistant Lecturer, ITCarlow.
Seán L’Estrange, Lecturer in Sociology, University College Dublin
Profesor Joe Cleary, ,School of English, NUIM
Dr Paula Gilligan, IADT, Dun Laoire
Jacqui O’Riordan, Lecturer, University College Cork
Prof Michael Cronin, DCU
Helen Lambkin , Lecturer in Biology,DIT
Dr Alan Grossman, Lecturer, Dublin Insitute of Technology.
An t-Ollamh Matthew Hussey, emeritus, DIT, Baile Átha Cliath.
Dr Ciaran Taylor, Lecturer of Mathematics, IT Tallaght
Dara McHugh, Lecturer, IT Carlow
Dr Mary Roche,Department of Geography , UCC
Patrick Mansfield , Lecturer in Computing(Retired), IT Tallaght
Phyllis Prendergast,Assistant Staff Officer,DIT
Denise McDonnell, Senior Executive Assistant, UCD.
Dr Dominic Dillane, Lecturer in Statistics, DIT
Orla Cosgrave,(Ex Hr Manager) , University College Dublin
Margaret O’Sullivan Farrell, Lecturer in Music, DIT, Dublin City
Dr James Walsh,School of Physics,DIT
Fran Mansfield, Dublin Tourism (Retired)
Dr Ronnie Moore ,Lecturer ,UCD
Dr Joseph Power,Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, WIT
Gerald Morgan [gmorgan1066@gmail.com]
Dr F.M. Lyng,Radiation and Environmental Science Centre,Focas Institute, DIT
Aiden Bell,Lecturer Maths and Information Technology, IT Sligo
Dr. Sharae Deckard, Lecturer, School of English. UCD
Prof. John Cassidy, FRSC, Assistant Head of School,
School of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences,
O’Mahony, Patrick [P.OMahony@ucc.ie]
Hugh O’Reilly,Clerical Officer,Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food,Clonakilty,
Thomas Power, FHEA, MBS (Finance), B.A.(Hons), Grad.Dip.Env.MGT.Lecturer, DIT
Sinead Dore,teacher,Co Leitrim TUI
Paul Kinsella, Clerical Officer, GPO, Dublin.
Leon Conway, Lecturer,Centre for Film Studies,UCD
Mary Flood , Executive Assistant, School of Agriculture, UCD i
DR Cora Stack.Lecturer, It Tallaght
Dr Iain Atack,Lecturer,International Peace Studies, TCD
Eileen Doran,Lecturer, School of Business, DIT.
Dr. Féilim Ó hAdhmaill,School of Applied Social Studies,U.C.C.
David Cotter, Clerical Officer, South Dublin County Council.
Detta Dickinson Department of Mathematics,NUIM
Brian Mcnally [brian.mcnally@dit.ie]
Patrick Kelly Lecturer IT Carlow.
Dr Jesus Maria Frias Celayeta, Acting Head of Department of Food Science, DIT
Martin O’Grady, Lecturer in Psychology, Institute of Technology, Tralee.
Jan Pettersen, Lecturer, DIT, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
Simon Quinn,Lecturer in Accounting & Finance, IT Tralee
Gerry Connell,Lecturer in Culinary Arts,DIT
N Lynch, Co Cavan VEC ,Past Chair of TUI Cavan
Anne Ó Ruairc, ,Lecturer, Department of Health and Science,IT Carlow,
Con Doran, Lecturer, IT Carlow
Fiona Broderick, – Lecturer of Languages , IT Tallaght
Michael O Brien. Teacher, Vocational Sector. Wexford
Dr Peter Herrmann ,Lecturer in Social Policy,UCC
Pat Ahern, Lecturer in Mathematics, CIT, Cork
Dr Diog O’Connell, Lecturer, IADT,Dún laoire
Dr Alice Feldman, sociology, UCD
Debra Laefer, Lecturer, Civil Engineering, UCD, Dublin
Bernie Sherlock, Lecturer in Music, DIT
Marie Guilfoyle, Lecturer in Languages(Retired), DIT
Fergal Greene,Teacher,Clondalkin,Dublin 22
Liam Murphy, Lecturer, DIT, Dublin 8
Arthur Henry, Lecturer, DIT Bolton Street, Dublin
Niall Coakley, Lecturer in Electronic Engineering, DIT
Joe Kellegher, Lecturer in Electronic Engineering, DIT.
Ailish O’ Brien Lecturer IT Carlow
Áine O Neill, Lecturer, IT Carlow
