Saturday, November 20, 2010

A warm welcome to our friends from the IMF & EU

Despite the recurrent theme of “a loss of sovereignty” from opposition politicians and media commentators, I can’t say that I’m greatly perturbed to have the IMF/EU as guests of the nation.

They might just ensure that the bullets that need biting are actually bitten and that our hoped-for economic recovery isn’t compromised by the incompetence and gombeenism of our elected representatives, particularly those currently in Government.

So, in addition to scrutinising our banks, I hope that the visiting IMF/EU team prioritises an impartial bench-marking exercise to compare the public service size, pay levels and pension entitlements with other EU countries.

Our elected politicians should not be exempted from this exercise.


A major cull of the numbers in the Dáil (166) and Seanad (60) would represent no great loss to the nation. Listening to the candidates in the upcoming Donegal by-election would tend to confirm this view.

Footnote: Section in italics published as a letter in the Irish Times.

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