Candidate Web Site North & East Ward   Kieran Cunnane
	East of the River
Renmore..  Mervue..  Ballybane..  Ballybritt..  Doughiska..  City Centre..  Tirellan..  Menlo..  Sandy Rd..  Riverside..  Castlegar..

How is the Government performing.  In simple terms it's not meeting the targets it has set. However, lots of earlier Government's had this difficulty. Services are poor and we're facing cutbacks; that's a common theme in other Governments too. My opinion is the Government performance must be put in the context of both this term and the previous one. At the start of the 90's Albert Reynolds announced 9 Billion in Infrastructure funds from the EU. In the mid to late 90s, we were doing ok economically, but we still had problems such as long term unemployment. Income tax was commonly agreed to be too high. The PDs in particular wanted to reduce income tax and stimulate the economy. This fortuitously coincided with the worldwide technology boom and our economy improved greatly.

If we had cut tax for just two or three budgets and then concentrated on services and infrastructure, we could now have a great Country. Many economists say you don't reduce taxes in a boom, however Charlie McCreevey irresponsibly kept providing tax giveaways right up to the General Election. This was in the knowledge that the boom had ended; he put staying in power at all costs before the greater good of the Country. We all know how unpopular it is to propose income tax is increases, so now it's stealth taxes and cutbacks which are the norm.  Ordinarily, stealth taxes would further increase inflation, but because the economy is slowing down, and because people are buying less, inflation has dropped.

In short, we never got the infrastructure; our services are the same if not worse. We have blown the greatest economic boom in the history of the State. On top of this, we are left with the least caring, most anti-democratic, and most corrupt government we have ever seen. We have a right wing, headed towards extreme right wing Government in power.  Here are some examples:

• The freedom of information act has been eroded. Additionally, Gardaí and prison officers are being muted from speaking to the press. The planning laws have been restricted against the public. Waste Management decisions have been handed to singly officials (the City and County Managers) meaning that elected officials have no say. The Government wants to introduce a National Infrastructure Board to fast track unpopular decisions such as incinerators.

• Back to education grants are being removed. Single parent students were attacked but they won their battle and retained their allowances.

• The recent by-laws threatening the right to leaflet and protest in Galway.

• Plans to privatise our services including public transport, water and waste management.

• Democracy is being attacked particularly in planning and waste management projects.

• Acquisition of 25 acres of the land at Carrickmines by the council costs 100 million in a CPO lawsuit, though Jackson Way bought it for about £600,000. This, despite the fact that many of the main players are being hauled before the Mahon Tribunal. Carrickmines is about big business and politicians are embedded in the scandal.

• The proposed Galway City outer bypass, like Carrickmines is about opening up tracts of land for development. We must question whether our Councillors and TDs have land interest of their own in this project. 

• The gap between rich and poor has widened and the housing list is ever growing.

There are many areas where the Government has failed notably:

• Buying a house has slipped beyond the reach of most first time buyers.

• Indigenous Industry. Back in the early 90's we were constantly being told that the indigenous sector must be made strong. This means investing in Research and Development. Despite good work by Enterprise Ireland, we still are more dependent on foreign multinationals than before the boom. The Government never invested the money. This comes at a time when global competition threatens many of our industries.

• The cock up in infrastructure projects such as the Dublin Port Tunnel and the Red Cow Roundabout LUAS debacle. How could either of these two National embarrassments happen; but they did.

I am very angry that the Government got away with deceiving the people before the General Election. I am also angered by the way in which the National Press facilitated this. They changed their tack after the election when it was too late. It will be interesting to see what happens leading up to  the local elections. I trust not as many people will be fooled this time around.