Nicola Curry
Ten Point Plan for Irish Economy Recovery:
- Stop the privatization of key utilities such as gas and electricity. Cut charges by 30 percent through reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Place a salary ceiling of €100,000 on top executives in semi-state bodies.
- Stop the continual bail out of banks. Make the bondholders pay. Instead of socialising bank debt, the existing private bank companies should be declared bankrupt and a new good state bank created. This should be a not-for-profit bank that circulates credit and avoids speculative ventures.
- Implement with immediate effect a pay ceiling on all politicians of €70,000.
- Institute immediately a body to oversee the Spirit of Ireland energy system. This system will harness Ireland’s wind energy by creating large hydro storage reservoirs. It should be fully owned by the state and the Irish people should be guaranteed cheap energy before any is exported.
- End the practice of placing political and corporate cronies on state and semi state boards. Develop a new system whereby representatives from every walk of life can be elected by their communities to oversee the public interest. There should be no reason for limiting a person’s role in society because they don’t have the elitist education of the majority of our current regime. An oversight body composed to community representatives to slash unnecessary government spending on consulting firms, legal firms and state procurement agencies.
- Implement a public health care system. Cut the costs of health by developing a proper system of preventative medicine. Renegotiate all purchase arrangements with the goal of ensuring we get the best value for all medical and pharmaceutical products entering our health care system. Make greater use of generic drugs.
- An additional 10,000 Third Level Education places must be made available.
- A public works programme to provide jobs and to undertake socially necessary project such as upgrading all homes to a high standard of energy efficiency.
- A bailout for mortgage holders in negative equity and in financial difficulty. A freeze on mortgage foreclosures during the current economic crisis. An orderly system of personal bankruptcy that would free mortgage holders who cannot pay from lifelong debt.
