With unemployment soaring one of their first major acts of the new government was to introduce a jobs initiative. The only problem was that the jobs plan didn’t create any jobs. However it did give business owners a cut in VAT that many haven’t passed on.
And it also introduced an internship scheme which is displacing real jobs and is actually adding to unemployment. The new government promised to bring in a one-tier universal healthcare system where everyone regardless of income can get the healthcare they need. However they have a very funny way of going about it.
So far their strategy has basically involved shutting down local Accident and Emergency’s and slashing hospital budgets. Perhaps our political overlords know something about creating a universal healthcare system that we don’t. Or perhaps they’ve been dabbling in the pharmacy cabinet. Ireland has the second lowest tax take on oil and gas deposits in the world, beaten only by the Cameroon when it comes to licking oil corporation ass. So what have our new government done to rectify this? Absolutely nothing at all. Well they might be messing up on jobs, healthcare and oil corporation taxation but at least when it comes to the economy we must surely have a new approach?
A new media approach anyway. You know less appearing on TV hungover and definitely no singing songs on national radio half cut in the mornings. After all continuing the same disastrous policies as the last lot requires a straight face.
Illustration by Darragh Lynch