FINE GAEL'S 'NEW POLITICS'? JUST AS NASTY BUT WEAK

The last two weeks have told us everything we needed to know about the government’s so called new politics.

Since April FG ministers have spoken endlessly about the transparency and accountability of their new minority government, but behind all of their flowery language they still believe in the same old nasty right-wing politics.

Take the commission on water charges as an example. Having lost the election on the issue of water, FG are now desperately trying to introduce charges through the back door.

With more than 90 TD’s elected on an explicitly anti-water charges platform, FG know they will lose a straight vote on the issue. T

They also know that the charges are deeply unpopular, but rather than listen to the will of the people they have established a supposedly expert panel crammed full of establishment elites.

Last week the proposed chair, Joe O’ Toole, gave an interview to the Irish Examiner in which he stated that AAA-PBP members are “completely and utterly wrong on the issue”.

He also admitted that he fundamentally believes in the governments “polluter pays principle” and that those campaigning against the charges are “talking utter nonsense” - hardly the kind of independent voice needed to gain the confidence of the public.

He has quite rightly been forced to step down.

The commissions other eight members are no more satisfactory. Peter Peacock is Chair of the Customer Forum for a private water company in Scotland; Xavier Le flaive works as an environmental consultant for the ultra-capitalist OECD;

Brendan O’ Mahony is the Chair of the National Federation of Irish Group Water Schemes – a group that already pays for water. None of the members comes out of the struggle to abolish the charges. Instead they are establishment lackeys cherry picked to report on the technical benefits of paying for water.

The entire commission is completely biased and must be disbanded.

All of this shows that Fine Gael’s politics haven’t changed one iota. What has changed, however, is the context in which they are governing.

For the first time in the history of the state neither Fine Gael nor Fianna Fail came out of the general election with any possibility of forming their own majority government.

Traditionally, Irish governments have used parliament to ram through legislation regardless of the opposition.

This made the rest of the Dail into little more than a talking shop. Largely because of the water movement this proved impossible this time around.

Neither of the right wing parties got anywhere near the 79 TD’s needed to form a majority administration. Instead Fine Gael formed a minority government with their own 50 TD’s and a rump of independents- with the support of Fianna Fáil who are playing at being government and opposition at the same time!

This has left them considerably weakened, particularly in the face of people power mobilisation. Above almost everything the government wants to stop the left from gaining any further momentum.

Since April they have therefore rowed back on linking social welfare payments to school attendance. They have also been forced to retreat on the issue of charging for recycling and on the proposed hikes to the standing charges for ordinary waste collection.

Now Joe O’ Toole has been forced to resign under pressure from the opposition parties in the Dail. For the left this sends out a powerful message. The government can be forced back repeatedly if we can mobilise people to fight for their interests. This makes the next R2W protest on the 17^th of September extremely important. Big numbers can bury water charges, once and for all and set the scene for future victories by working people.

Now is not the time to become complacent, however. Despite the government taking in an extra €750 million in taxes since the start of the year, Minister for Public Expenditure, Pascal O’ Donoghue still insists that the public finances remain in a state of emergency.

On the one hand, the government boasts that they are responsible for the fastest recovery in the whole of Europe.

On the other hand, they insist that they are not in a position to restore the pay and conditions of public sector workers. Given their vulnerability the government could be forced back on this issue too, but the public sector unions have by and large accepted the new regime of lower pay and worse conditions.

Because of this the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) has been rammed through the Dail without any debate. To reverse this decision workers should follow the lead of the Association of Secondary School Teachers who have refused to sign up to endless reductions in their terms of employment. This government is extremely weak but they will only reveal the extent of this weakness when working people take to the streets and strike back.

COVENEY’S WATER COMMISSION DESIGNED FOR ONE RESULT

The government has handpicked a Water Charges Commission that is totally biased and has been designed to bring one result – more propaganda in favour of water charges.

The Minister responsible, Simon Coveney, gave the game away when he declared that he hoped it would ‘ create acceptance” among citizens as to how best to pay for water’

This is evident in the composition of the Commission.

Its chairperson is the former Senator Joe O’Toole, who has already declared that ‘central taxation is not enough to pay for water services’ In other words, water charges are needed.

Among the Commission members is Dr Xavier Leflaive from the OECD. This agency has consistently pushed an agenda of ‘user fees’ and Leflaive has written that

‘water pricing can be used to signal scarcity and to create incentives for efficient water use in all sectors (e.g. agriculture, industry, domestic). Social consequences are best addressed through well-designed tariff structures or targeted measures’.

The Commission has two key figures linked to Scotland’s water industry, which the government sees as a possible model for Ireland.

One is Peter Peacock who is chair of the Customer Forum for Water Scotland and a former Scottish Minister. He has written that ‘The Forum and Scottish Water seek to agree between them … about the price household and business customers should pay’

He favours charges and boasts that ‘customer forums;’ can help lower prices. Yet water and waste charges in Scotland amounted to an average of £417 a year or nearly €500.

The other Scottish figure on the commission is Ms Sarah Hendry, an academic lawyer specialising in water law. She teaches a module on how ‘price setting’ can ‘achieve social and economic objectives’.

The Commission also includes Gritta Nottelman, a strategy consultant with Waternet, a Dutch water company that charges for both tap water and discharge of waste water.

Another member is Bill Emery, who was a former director at OFFWAT, the British regulatory authority that presided over a privatised water system. In his spare time, Emery is also an ‘associate’ of the consultancy company, Indepen.

This company claims a particular competency on how business can interact with public agencies. It lists a full 22 water companies amongst its clients.

There is no representative of the Right2Water movement on the commission. It is simply full of people who are already biased in favour of water charges. What a sham!