Words: 1100
Explain the change in Government objectives between mid 2005 12007 and now and how has this affected Government policy This essay looks at the change in Government objectives between mid 2005/2007 and now and critically assesses how this has affected Government Policy. The stunning economic performance known as the Celtic Tiger was in its tenth year In 2005. Peter Sweeney uses the quote from W. B Yeats when he said after the 1916 Rising which led to Irish Independence “all’s changed, changed utterly.
A terrible beauty Is born”. Sweeney tells us that with the Irish economic boom, all’s changed utterly, the outcome s celebrated by virtually everyone and the beauty is far from terrible. (Sweeney 2008). However Sweeney was still basking in the glow of Ireland’s economic success as his book was written in 2007. The recent Global economic downturn has impacted hard on the small open Irish economy necessitating major changes In Government policy to be Implemented swiftly and decisively.
However Is a case of too little too late? Will the people of Ireland accept these changes in light of government mismanagement and in some cases out and out wastefulness? This essay argues that Ireland in 2005 as in a unique position to protect itself against the potential or expected downturn in Global economic fortunes however government objectives and subsequent policy decisions did not reflect this.
This is not to say that there would have been no effect on Ireland; however this essay attempts to outline the areas where changes In policy decisions may have supported a faster economic recovery In Ireland’s case. The essay begins by outlining the economic reality in 2005 2007 and now in terms of growth rates, GNP, GAP figures, unemployment statistics, Global competitive reports and other pertinent statistics. It then reviews government objectives and policies during this period.
In exploring this information the essay critically examines government objectives and policy and seeks to highlight where policy contributed to the downturn In Irish fortunes and what changes could have been Implemented to help negate this transformation. According the National Bureau of Economic Research (the official arbiter of recessions) the current recession began in December 2007. The EMBER is a private group of leading economists charged with dating the start and end of economic downturns. ( money. CNN. Com).
In 2008 29% of those aged 2009, Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2009) Twenty years ago CDC economist Cool McCarthy, participated in a body called the Expenditure Review Group, which became now as Bored Snip. Today he is a participant of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmed or the latest Bored Snip he must have a feeling of d??J vi, as he and his colleagues trawl through the mysteriously obscure recesses of Irish public spending. The lack of change in the interval must have been striking. Irish government spending has remained a closed door to public scrutiny. Ere Comptroller & Auditor General said in a report, published in late 2007, that the estimated cost of Irish government activity undertaken or commenced in the period 2000 to 2005, was about ??420 million.
The biggest web fiasco was the Public Services rocker, planned as a facility for public service providers to share data and to act as a ‘one-stop shop” for the public – through the website archdioceses. Ii. The original estimate for this project was ??14 million but its final cost was ??37 million. The service is currently only used internally for information transfers within the public service. An example of conservative Ireland in action was vividly provided by the introduction by the Government of the National Assets Management Agency (NANA) the State ‘bad bank” for troubled bank property loans. Irish taxpayers now will have to prepare for a burden which could last for half a generation or more.
NANA named the providers of services: banking and financial advice is to be provided by HASH Investment Bank Pl, a unit of the global bank HASH; tax advisory services will be provided by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the biggest of the Big 4 accounting firms and corporate law firm Arthur Cox, was appointed as legal advisors. The Irish taxpayer is now asked to accept that the Government who blatantly failed to prepare the country for the economic downturn will now employ some of the firms that were instrumental in creating the current catastrophe. (Finances. Com 2009) Economist David McMillan said of NANA that it will not lead to any resumption of credit because the banks are traumatized. He further tells us that NANA only covers ??77 billion of a total Irish bank lending book of ??400 billion and the valuations for NANA are coming in much lower than the government’s estimates.
He suggests that when bad debts and defaults spread to the rest of the ??400 billion loan book, the banks will be submerged – and will have to be taken into public ownership because no private investor will give them a cent. They will become zombie banks owned by a zombie government. He advocates a new bank or a system of new banks in Ireland and Nards that due to Government incompetence the specter of deflation stalks the land. :McMillan 2009) In the global competitive report for Ireland 2009 – 2010, respondents were asked to select and rank the five most problematic factors for doing business in Ireland these results along with the full report for Ireland are available in Appendices.
It’s interesting to note that Access to Finance, Inefficient government bureaucracy, inadequate supply of infrastructure, restrictive labor isolations and policy instability rank among the highest problematic factors. Scribed. Com) Ireland’s economic success during the Celtic Tiger was remarkable compared to the previous economic history. Ireland was well placed to maintain its economic fortunes. This essay argued that Ireland in 2005 was in a unique position to protect itself against the potential or expected downturn in Global economic reflect this. Inept government and gross mismanagement of public spending contributed to the negative effects of the major economic downturn.
The complacent attitude of Government coupled with its conservative approach to decisive change rather compounded the economy’s disastrous freely. I would conclude that Governments objectives and policy need a radical rethink. I would also suggest that it is in Ireland’s best interests to liberate itself from its current ineffectual administration who are simply undertakers of the Celtic Tiger. Ireland needs to address transparency issues with regard to public spending and requires clear direction and leadership in order to move forward towards real economic recovery. Ere difficulty is finding the political leadership in the wasteland of Irish Political life.