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Title: Trusting the politicians?
Author: Workers Solidarity Movement
Date: 1995
Language: en
Topics: Ireland, politics, Workers Solidarity
Source: Retrieved on 24th November 2021 from http://struggle.ws/ws95/trust44.html
Notes: Published in Workers Solidarity No. 44 — Spring 1995.

Workers Solidarity Movement

Trusting the politicians?

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY no doubt that voices will be heard telling

anti-charges campaigners to trust one gang or another of politicians to

abolish the charges if only we will wait until the next local elections

and put them into control of the councils. It has been tried before. Our

reply is “don’t be conned again!”.

When Fianna Fáil abolished household rates in 1977 they said the lost

revenue would be replaced by injecting £30 million into the building

industry. This was to create 5,000 extra jobs (and PAYE contributions)

whilst eliminating 5,000 unemployment benefit payments. The following

year they added 5% to VAT and increased PAYE & PRSI to cover the loss of

rates. The Local Government Financial Provisions Act No.1 ‘guarrantied’

that local authorities would receive enough money from the government

for their needs.

The first suggestion of imposing local charges came in the 1982 Fianna

Fáil manifesto, ‘The Way Forward’. Later that year a general election

was called. In newspaper advertisements Fine Gael warned that if Fianna

Fáil won they would impose service charges. In the same newspapers

Fianna Fáil warned that if Fine Gael won they would impose service

charges. The Labour Party said they were totally opposed to such

charges. So all three of them were, at least by implication, against

these charges.

A coalition of Fine Gael and Labour formed the government, and in July

1983 passed the Local Government Financial Provisions Act No.2 which

empowered City and County Managers to charge for services. In 1985, just

before local elections, the government decreed that Councillors would

have the final decision on the charges. Fianna Fáil contested these

elections on an Anti-Service Charges ticket. Immediately after the

elections they did a U-Turn and voted for them.

Just before the General Election of 1987 Fianna Fáil gave a written

guarantee to the National Association of Tenants Associations. Paddy

Lalor, MEP and Director of Elections, promised that if they formed the

next government they would scrap the service charges. He further

promised that local authorities would be given enough money for their

needs.

Since 1978 householders have been paying domestic rates through

increased VAT & PAYE. Local charges are simply a way of getting us to

pay twice, it is double taxation. They are dishonest charges. The

politicians who voted for them are dishonest. They are practiced liars

and are not entitled to our trust. The only way to be sure of ending

these charges is a massive national campaign of non-payment.