Fine Gael Education Spokesman, Brian Hayes TD, has described as embarrassing the u-turn by Mary Hanafin on school water charges saying that he welcomes her belated recognition that schools shouldn't pay these charges until the crisis is sorted out. He said that the latest climb down is a fine example of Ballymagash politics.
Under the Government proposals primary schools were classed as "businesses" so they could be charged water rates.Yet schools neither manufacture nor sell goods or services for profit, nor register for VAT. The groundswell of opposition nation wide spearheaded by FG Labour and the INTO has finally shaken the Government out of its lethargy. It is probably safe to assume that Government proposals have been sufficiently neutered to ensure that the flat rate -now proposed by Bertie Ahern- will be of minor significance. It is estimated that under the original proposals up to €10 million would have been paid by a national school system which is already grossly underfunded.
This Government has become increasingly accident prone. The opposition has already scored direct hits on the cancer care crisis and now on the schools water rates issue and on the childcare subvention scheme which also saw a Government u-turn today. In times of economic boom the Government could increase public expenditure to smooth the sensibilities of the electorate. Public expenditure has increased in 2007 by 13%. This was sufficient to mollify a sizeable segment of the electorate.
Now however The FF/Green /PD Government is hoist by its own petard. The chickens are coming home to roost. Efforts to curb public expenditure and to impose stealth taxes will inevitably result in more serious political miscalculations.
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