ESRI ‘out of touch with reality’- Kelly

Cllr Anthony Kelly, responding to the latest report on debt projections from the Economic and Social Research Institute, has accused the body of being out of touch with the realities of everyday life for under pressure Irish families. The Wexford Sinn Fein councillor has criticised the ESRI’s “sterile, detached” view on spending cuts and tax increases.

“The ESRI’s call for intensified austerity is irresponsible and unethical,” Cllr Kelly said. “The mandate of this group is not just the study and guidance of economic affairs, but also the consideration of the impact of economic events upon the Irish household. The ERSI’s demand for ‘revved up’ austerity in the form of €30 billion in cuts does not reflect an organisation that is perceptive to the needs of the Irish people. In fact it seems to me that the ESRI’s sterile, detached view on spending cuts and increased taxes betrays an organisation that is completely out of touch with reality.”

“We have already suffered some of the harshest austerity cuts ever seen in a western economy. Nearly half a million people are unemployed, and the live register figures remain incredibly high despite up to 50,000 Irish people emigrating every year. The central bank has reported a 26% increase in distressed mortgages over the past year. This is where austerity has gotten us. ERSI catcalls for amplified austerity measures completely ignore these figures and the obvious crippling effects of previous cuts on Irish society.”

“The ESRI believe that pure s on paper can bring the Irish economy to recovery. They don’t factor in the blatant suffering that will be inflicted upon thousands of Irish families as their members are well insulated from austerity. The mantra of “everyone must pay” is a fiction invented by the likes of the ERSI. The truth is that one section of society is being targeted with every cut, every new tax and every lost service. That section is the bottom end; the unemployed, the low paid and the debt ridded mortgage holder.”

“The government must cast inside this report from the ESRI, who have made such appalling economic projections in the past, and accept a new economic principal of those who can afford to should pay more. Our government’s refusal to make the rich pay is out of step internationally. We must look towards the implementation of a wealth tax in the next budget. Progressive taxes must be marginally increased on those earning over €100,000 per annum. Misused tax breaks must be ended and the quango system abolished. The ESRI’s austerity bonanza offers only further disintegration of our economy”.