This is Real Change
Like many people, you may not be all that interested in politics but you still want real change. You may be an undecided voter, wondering who really has the stomach and policies to tackle our broken system of government and politics. You probably doubt anyone will! I want to promise you right now that major change will take place under Fine Gael and only Fine Gael. Click 'Read More' at the bottom of this post and I spell it all out in detail. If you only read one thing during this election, read this.
Please help elect Fine Gael with a single party majority. I'm strong in the Shannon region and with just a few votes for me, from each town around the rest of the county, I can make it in with my two colleagues. A strong Fine Gael majority in the Dail will mean we don't have to make compromises to Labour. Make no mistake, Labour will run a mile from the changes we outline in detail here. If after reading our proposal, you agree with us, then please use your vote wisely.
An overview of Fine Gael policies
Our policies taken together offer our overall vision of Ireland – of a republic that serves the people, of a politics that the Irish people can be proud of, of an efficient public sector that delivers for the people the services they need, of a health service that offers every citizen proper treatment, and of an economy that once again offers the prospect of jobs to our jobless.
As a member of the biggest political grouping in Europe, the European People’s Party, Fine Gael has studied best practice to bring the best of the world to Ireland. So we studied the acclaimed Dutch health service in planning FairCare. We studied political systems from Canada to Sweden and New Zealand in planning our reforms of the political system, for example. Reinventing Government and NewEra looked in detail at international examples and comparisons.
The bottom line is simple: other parties just talk about reform. We have made real, detailed proposals that will return Ireland to prosperity. We offer real change, not just sound bites, to the Irish people.
Fine Gael’s key policies
New Politics
New Politics is the most radical program of constitutional and political reform ever proposed by an Irish party. Its vision is of a new republic for 21st Ireland, one with fewer politicians (35% fewer politicians through abolishing the Seanad and cutting the Dáil by 20) a radically reformed Dáil which will provide better scrutiny of lawmaking, have a more efficient committee system, and a new budget system. Openness and transparency will be the hallmark of our new republic – so appointments to State boards will be publicly vetted for the first time, while a new Freedom of Information Act will give the citizen a right to information that will be far greater and more extensive that is the case right now. Whistleblowers will be protected to encourage reporting of wrongdoing. lobbyists will be required to be registered, to ensure full openness in their relationship with
Government. A major shake-up in local government will also take place.
Some of these changes will require constitutional amendments so a series of referenda will be held early in the Government’s lifetime to make the changes. Citizens will also be directly involved in shaping this agenda. We will, for
instance, establish a citizens’ assembly on electoral reform – a highly successful model used in both Canada and the Netherlands whereby groups of citizens help devise proposals for change.
While other Parties have recently become converts to the idea of political reform, Fine Gael was the first Party to make detailed proposals in our widely praised ‘New Politics’ document, with our proposal to abolish the Seanad capturing headlines and forcing all parties to consider whether we need Seanad Éireann. New Politics is about setting the agenda for change and delivering it. Our
aim is nothing less than to restore people’s trust in the political process by delivering real, tangible change, with all the changes we propose implemented in our five year term. To bring the best of international experience to Ireland we have studied international political systems worldwide.
NewERA
NewERA promises the biggest shake-up in the Irish economy and in the semi-state sector since the days of Sean Lemass. The aim is to create tens of thousands of jobs. Just as past generations of leaders from Cosgrave to Lemass kick-started the economy through strategic state investments that created the ESB in the 1920s, Bord na Móna and CIE in the 1940s, and other state companies, Fine Gael in government will invest in areas that will be crucial for economic development in the 21st century – so an additional €7 billion will be invested in energy, Communications and Water infrastructure over four years to boost long term competitiveness, significantly enhance energy security and eliminate the “digital divide”.
The new state companies to be created include “Smart Grid”, which will merge ESB Networks and Eirgrid to focus on developing the current energy supply and develop it into new areas, and Bio energy and Forestry Ireland, which will combine Bord na Mona and Coillte in order to allow it to become a global leader in the commercialisation of next generation bio-energy technologies. Another new company, “Broadband 21”, will invest over €2 billion over four years to build
a high-speed fibre infrastructure throughout the country.
To fund this development, state assets that are no longer “mission-critical”, that is, can now be operated by others, will be sold to fund the creation of the next generation of mission-critical assets. These will include ESB PowerGen & Supply and Bord Gáis energy.
Reinventing Government
Just as New Politics will change the face of Irish politics, so our policy ‘reinventing Government’will bring about the biggest shakeup in how our public sector works since independence. Fine Gael’s viewpoint is clear: our system of Government is broken. It has failed the public it is designed to serve and it is failing those who are trying to make a broken system work.We have world class doctors, nurses, teachers, Gardaí and carers but we have a governance structure that causes systems to fail and fail and fail again. our aim is to deliver a world class public sector that will help the rebirth of post-Celtic Tiger Ireland.
Reinventing Government will make our Government smaller, cheaper and better. This will mean in practice that we end up having fewer politicians, fewer bureaucrats, and much fewer quangos eating in to your hard earned taxes. It will also deliver better services, more accountability from those in charge and greater transparency in the way Government operates. 145 quangos will be abolished, with two of the biggest and most wasteful, FÁS and the HSE, broken up or replaced by smaller, more focused, less bureaucratic organisations. Reinventing Government will produce a saving of over €5 Billion or 1 euro in 10 spent by public bodies, by confronting waste, duplication and inefficiency.
How the public sector functions will be reformed to increase the build-up expertise and knowledge – so external recruitment of new high level specialists in banking, taxation and macro economic forecasting will be to improve the department of Finance’s capacity to deliver on key tasks. To bring in new experience, at least 1/3rd of all appointments at a senior level in the Public Service (above PO level) will be made from outside the current system for a period of five years.
To add more expertise, and offer an independent viewpoint, Fine Gael will establish an Independent Fiscal Council to advise the Oireachtas on issues such as borrowing levels, debt reduction and taxation planning. The Fiscal Council will be accountable to the Oireachtas Finance Committee.
Our Reinventing Government reforms is envisaged to produce a reduction of 30,000 ‘back office’ public sector jobs, through a combination of scheduled retirements and voluntary redundancies. The reductions will be in administration, not frontline services.
Our vision is a simple one: a smaller, more efficient, more focused and more specialist public sector, with greater accountability, less bureaucracy and less centralisation. Reinventing Government contains over 100 specific proposals to improve how Ireland is governed and those reforms will be delivered in the lifetime of the next government.
Faircare
As policies like ‘New Politics’, ‘NewERA’ and ‘Reinventing Government’ show, Fine Gael
believes in studying best practice in other countries and bringing their experience and lessons to Ireland. Nowhere is that more in evidence than in our Faircare policy, which will bring a revolution in Irish healthcare. Having studied a number of healthcare systems, we concluded that the acclaimed dutch healthcare model was best suited to Ireland.
A key change is a move from a centralised system known as ‘command and control’ to what is called the “money-follows-the-patient” budgeting system, under which hospitals are paid for how many patients they treat. Patients will no longer be seen as “costs” to the health service, but as sources of “income”. Heavy emphasis will be placed on developing “primary care” centres whereby groups of GPs with other health care professionals will treat patients free out of modern purpose built
premises with access to x-ray, ultrasound and endoscopy so that patients can be diagnosed in their communities by the doctors who know them best.
The core of Faircare will be the delivery of universal Health Insurance where every man, woman and child will be insured, some fully subsidised, some partially subsidised by the Government. This will end the principle of a two-tier health system, whereby those with private insurance get priority over public patients. under Faircare, every Irish person will have equal access to all the health care they
need.
Introducing Faircare will take place over three phases, with most of the implementation done within our first term. It will offer a revolution in healthcare to Irish people, with a quality and service far higher than is possible under the current centralised, bureaucratic and wasteful system.
Our Cutbacks, including Quango abolitions
Finance
1. Application of €200,000 pay caps to the NTMA and NAMA
2.We will replace the existing Sectoral Policy division and the Public Service Management division of
the department of Finance and the Public Service Modernisation division of the department of An
Taoiseach,merging them into a new office of Public Spending and Modernisation, cutting the current
staff numbers in these areas by at least one third.
3. Fine Gael will reduce the numbers in the public service by an additional 18,000 over and above the
12,000 reduction set out in the Government’s 4 year plan, beginning an additional 6,000 in 2011.
4. The number of Government quangos, regulators and inspectorates will be cut by 145, ending the
confusing, wasteful fragmentation in service delivery.
Environment, Heritage & Local Government
We will deliver at least 80%of the spending savings recommended by the local Government efficiency review, including:
1. Cutting the number of county/city managers from34 to 24;
2. Reducing senior managers in the Dublin and Cork local authorities by 15%;
3. Centralising recruitments through the Public Appointments Service;
4. Greater use of shared services in procurement
Enterprise, Trade and Innovation & Communications, Energy and
Natural Resources
1.We will merge Forfas back into the department and will be given a central role in coordinating the
implementation of Jobs Strategies. Administrative savings achieved.
2.We will merge the Competition Authority, National Consumer Agency (NCA), Commission for
Communications regulation (Comreg) and the Commission for energy regulation (Cer) into the new
Commission for Competition and utilities regulation. Major administrative savings achieved.
3.We will merge the Health and Safety Authority, the new National employment rights Authority and
element of the National Consumer Agency into a Business Inspection and licensing Authority (BIlA).
Major administrative savings achieved.
Education
1. New Training System for Unemployed
We will eliminate the waste and inefficiency which has been the hallmark of FÁS by transforming our
approach to training. Through the new one stop shop for getting back to work, the Payments and
entitlements Service, we will bring an end to the excessively bureaucratic, top down approach of FÁS. A new training voucher system will give the unemployed a greater say in choosing the right training for their needs and will root out waste in the system.
2. Greater Flexibility in Third Level Contracts
We will bring about greater efficiencies at third level through the revision of contracts and greater
flexibility and efficiency in work arrangements for academic staff. Greater flexibility must be achieved at third level to respond to the changing needs of the third level sector and deliver greater accountability, transparency and mobility to meet new demands. (McCarthy identified approx €140min staffing efficiencies at third level –most recent figures from dept suggest €50machieved to date).
Agriculture
1. Single Food Safety Authority
Building on the existing Food Safety Authority, Fine Gael will create a single food safety monitoring
agency responsible for food safety and inspection from farm to fork. This will enhance the food
traceability system and reduce the burden of red tape on business by streamlining functions currently carried out by a myriad of agencies including the department of Agriculture, dept of Health, HSE, local Authorities and the FSAI.
2. Payments and Entitlements Service
Fine Gael will overhaul the way the department of Agriculture operates, moving from a grants
processing facility to a department focused on driving agri-food policy. We will achieve this through the creation of a Payments and entitlements Service, which will process a variety of citizen entitlements including agricultural grants. Streamlining these services will bring about greater efficiencies, reducing costs and providing farmers with a speedier an more responsive service.
Justice
1. Amalgamation of Probation Service and Irish Prison Service into offender Management Service.
2. Reform of Immigration system by establishing independent appeals mechanism will reduce costly
High Court judicial review cases.
3. Cut Garda allowances by minimum of €50million (McCarthy cut).
4. Reduce judicial pay for remaining 22 judges who have not voluntarily give up a proportion of their pay into the pension levy, reform of judicial expenses, abolish tip staff grade.
5. Extend court sittings - this will facilitate extra sittings which, among other things, will reduce the
length of asylum list and clear backlog who need to be accommodated pending their hearing.
6. Sentencing reform.
7. Reduction in quangos by total of 15. Quangos to be cut include
• The amalgamation of the data Protection Commissioner an ombudsman Commission.
•Merge the Property Services regulatory Authority into the Private residential Tenancies Board.
• Transfer the functions of the Irish Film Classification Board into the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.
• Merge the Publications Appeal Board and the Censorship films appeal board.
• Merge 15 Prison Visiting Committees into 6.
• Abolish the National Crime Council.
• Merge the Valuation office and the ordinance Survey of Ireland with the Property registration Authority.
Tourism
We propose to generate savings, reduce the level of fragmentation involved, as well as greater
efficiencies in the tourismarea by bringing about closer co-operation between tourismbodies, Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland–developing a one-stop-shop called the National Tourism Development Authority.
Health
The current fiscal crisis means that now more than ever we must get value for money for every euro
spent on the health service or else risk wide-scale withdrawal of services to patients. FairCare introduces the reforms necessary to protect frontline services even as we see savings in the health budget.
1. Pay Hospitals for the Work they do: International research shows that introducing a “Money Follows The Patient” payment model for hospitals, as proposed in FairCare, can save up to 10%in the hospital budget. Efficiency savings will be used develop and improve frontline services.
2.Waste and Bureaucracy: Fine Gael will tackle inefficiencies, cut waste and reduce expenditure in the back room. Significant savings will be found by reducing the cost of agency staff, taxis, drugs,
absenteeism and non-core pay such as premium, overtime and allowances for example.
3. Cost of drugs: Fine Gael will introduce reference Pricing and reduce the cost of generic medicines in order to make savings in the state drugs bill.
4. Salaries: Fine Gael will introduce a salary limit of €200,000 that will apply to all public sector staff
including consultants and senior management of the HSE, as outlined in our reinventing Government
document.
Social Protection
Further reductions in working age and other social welfare payments can be minimised if greater
progress is made in reducing social welfare fraud, mistakes and the administrative costs associated with the existing social welfare system. Current fraud is estimated to be over €2b. (RTÉ Prime Time
Investigates)
1. One Stop Shop: Fine Gael will create a “one stop shop” Payments and entitlements Service (PeS) to process citizen’s entitlements – such as jobseekers’ supports, training supports, medical cards and
housing supports – that will cut administrative costs, expose fraud and improve citizens’ access to
entitlements.
2. Fraud: Fine Gael will initiate a major campaign to tackle social welfare fraud which will draw from
international best practice ideas such as public rights and obligations campaigns, a new Smart
Identity System and a National Fraud Helpline.
Defence
1. Total saving of €40.5m(4%on overall budget in 2011) with a cumulative saving in the defence area
in the Government's Four Year Plan of €106mby 2014.
2. Capital saving in 20111: €3.6mthough postponement of expenditure on equipment and capital
Works.
Specific savings - costs included in the overall budget saving of €40m
1. Retirement and non-replacement of Gulfstream IV aircraft in the MATS (Ministerial Air Transport
Section)
2. Non-participation in MINURCAT peace-keeping mission in Chad - The PDF returned from Chad in 2010.
3. Reduction in pension costs due to expiry of some pensions (through deaths, etc).
Expenditure commitments - replacement of two ships in the naval flotilla already budgeted for by the government.
Examples of some Quangos to go:
• Merge Coillte and Bord na Mona into Bio energy Ireland
• Merge ESB Networks and Eirgrid into Smart Grid
• Merge the Commission for Communications regulation (Comreg) and the Commission for energy
regulation (CER) into a new Commission for Competition and utilities regulation
• Merge ordinance Survey Ireland and the Property registration Authority
• Merge the Higher education Authority into the department
• Absorb National education Welfare Board into the department
• Rationalise Vocational education Committees from33 to 20
• Merge the State examinations Commission into the department.
• Merge National roads Authority and railway Procurement Agency.
• Merge the Commission for Aviation regulation into the National Transport Authority.
• Merge the Health and Safety Authority and the new National employment rights Authority into the
Business Inspection and licensing Authority (BILA)
• Merge the functions of the registrar of Friendly Societies and Companies registration office and secure additional efficiencies
• Merge the Competition Authority and National Consumer Agency (NCA) into the new Commission for Competition and utilities regulation
