home » media centre » press releases

Labour led govt now a credible and achievable objective

Issued : Saturday 4 July, 2009

I am honoured to deliver the Jim Kemmy Memorial Lecture here this evening. The theme of this year's Tom Johnson Summer School is achieving a Labour-led government. Its timing couldn't be better. Never has a Labour government in Ireland been more necessary.

Unemployment has surged beyond 400,000, and is heading for half a million. Businesses are starving for credit, as the banking system has been brought low by the greed of those who profited from the property boom. Gains in education, and social provision, and working conditions, are under threat. This week the Government wound up the Combat Poverty Agency, while 100,000 children still live in poverty. This country needs Labour to lead a new government.

There has been few times in history, when Labour could credibly talk about leading a government. As we are at the Tom Johnson Summer School, we might recall that it was Tom Johnson himself who came closest, as Labour leader, to leading a government. On August 16th 1927, his no-confidence motion in the then Cumann na nGaedhael government was defeated by the casting vote of the Ceann Comhairle.

But today, I believe that it is credible to talk about Labour leading a government. If in the recent elections we could win a quarter of the seats in the European Parliament, it should not be beyond our ability or ambition to win a quarter of the seats in Dáil Éireann. That is half what is required for a majority, and that is the parliamentary territory where leadership of government is credible and realistic.

Indeed, if Labour can be the biggest party in Dublin, as we are now, then we have the potential to grow and develop both in the capital, and all over the country, and to become the leading party in a new government.

But for Labour to lead a government, there are a number of necessary conditions which must be satisfied.

1. We must believe in it ourselves.
2. We must demonstrate how a Labour-led government would be different and better for the people, and for the country.
3. We must ourselves, as a party, do what is necessary to win, and
4. All those who lean towards Labour (or as Pat Rabbitte has put it - those who "think Labour"), but who don't always vote Labour, must be persuaded to commit to the Labour Party at the next general election.

Believing in a Labour-led government

Belief is a very personal thing. So I can only speak for myself. I believe that a Labour-led government is necessary for our country, and achievable for our party.

From the moment I first sought to be Leader of the Labour Party, I have consistently stated that my ambition and objection for this party is that it should lead a government. For the Labour Party to have any lesser ambition is to consign ourselves to the role of political also-rans.

As far as I am concerned, the next general election will be a three-way contest between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and Labour. The results of the recent local and European elections, and the findings of opinion polling throughout this year (including the exit poll on June 5th, where 21% said they would have voted Labour if it were a general election), all encourage us that the three-way contest is on.

But I am realistic enough to know that in the period between now and the general election, opinion polls may go up or down; satisfaction ratings may vary; and that we may be challenged as to how realistic our prospects are.

So I want to say this clearly now. Whether opinion polls put us at 20% or 2%, Labour's objective in the next general election will be to lead the government which emerges from it; and to give the Irish people the option of electing a government which is led neither by Fianna Fáil, nor Fine Gael.

A Labour-led government which is different and better

The first pre-condition for a Labour-led government is that we in the Labour party believe it ourselves, and that we are prepared to work for it.

But it is the second condition which is the most important: that a sufficient number of voters believe in it too. That they believe that a Labour-led government would be different, and would be better.

As we consider all our country's problems today - the economic downturn; the level of unemployment; the cost of the banking crisis; the cuts in public services; the decline in confidence - many people wonder if we are facing into a 'lost decade'.

The next decade, need not be a lost decade - it can be the decade of Labour. A decade in which we undertake to renew our country based on six priorities:
- Economic recovery
- A fair society
- Good, cost-effective public services
- A sustainable environment
- Reform
- And making a difference in the world.

1. Economic Recovery

The most urgent priority is to rescue the economy, and avoid a 'lost decade' spent picking up the pieces. But solutions to our immediate economic crisis must lay the foundations for sustainable, export-led growth into the future. Anything else is just a sticking plaster over deep-seated flaws in our economy that pre-date the global financial crisis.

We cannot move forward without resolving the banking crisis, quickly, and at the lowest possible cost to the taxpayer. The government's solution - NAMA - fails on these criteria. Along with twenty leading Irish economists - and even the IMF - the Labour Party is advocating a temporary nationalisation of the banks, as a way of limiting the risk to the exchequer of dealing with the bad loans, while restoring the flow of credit to the economy.

Equally as urgent is the need to get people back to work or into training. With an additional 200,000 people on the live register since last year, and the IMF predicting unemployment to reach 15.5 per cent, nothing less than a 'war effort' is needed to prevent the emergence of long-term, mass unemployment. The Labour Party has put forward proposals for at least 100,000 extra training places. This is an investment in our own workforce that we cannot afford to shirk.

There will be a necessary process of stabilising the public finances, and that will require painful economies. Part of that process must include the creation of a fairer tax system, which no longer allows the wealthy to avoid paying their fair share of tax. I do not accept, that the burden of budget adjustment can be borne disproportionately by cuts in public expenditure. I do believe, however, that there is an urgent requirement for reform in the public service, which can yield substantial savings.

However, we will not be able to cut our way out of this recession. Real economic recovery stems not from what we cut, but what we create. A Labour government would create a State Investment Bank to finance strategic investment in our infrastructure. It should be accompanied by a re-drawn NDP, which sets out our key infrastructural requirements, and how they can be delivered. It could even have a venture capital role, channelling essential finance to high-tech start-ups.

We would shift the mind-set that under-pinned the property boom, where the tax code was structured to support property speculation, rather than innovation. We need to incentivise not just investors from abroad, but our own citizens to take a stake in indigenous businesses, that will provide sustainable, long-term employment.

Finally, under a Labour government, the drive towards increased innovation and productivity would not be confined to the private sector.

The public sector delivers public goods, such as universal access to health care, education, and policing, that cannot be delivered effectively by the market. However, that is not to say that the public sector is not obliged to innovate, or to be flexible in the face of citizens' needs, or indeed to deliver its services more efficiently. We can still respect the unique value delivered by public services, while challenging the value for money of certain restrictive work practices, duplication of services or over-staffing.

Unlike some other political parties, the Labour Party sees an innovative and strong public service as being vital to our economy. Which is why reform of the public service will be one of our core economic priorities.

2. The Fair Society

We need a radically different understanding of the relationship between our economy, our society, and our environment. We would build a new model of Irish economic development where the kind of society we want to live in is built into how our economy functions, rather than 'society' being whatever happens after we've looked after the economy.

If I had to sum this up in one idea, it would be that equality is built into the fabric of our economic model. That our economy would simultaneously produce, and be strengthened by, a more equal society.

Economic growth alone does not 'lift all boats'. Firstly, though the past 15 years have seen a dramatic rise in average incomes, the gap between the top and the bottom has remained the same. Secondly, an analysis of the composition of the live register, carried out by Philip O'Connell of the ESRI, demonstrates that people with lower levels of education are still more likely to become unemployed, and to be unemployed for longer.

Education is key to changing this picture. It is not enough to create new jobs: we have to give people the skills necessary to compete for them. If we are to fulfil the promise of equal citizenship, then we must create an equal opportunities society. That means building a culture of education that stretches from the cradle to the grave.

The evidence that more equal societies do better is too compelling to ignore. It is not enough just to tackle poverty: you have to narrow the gap between those at the top and those at the bottom of our society. People always cite Sweden as an example of how economic success, and a high degree of equality can go hand in hand. But Japan - a low tax economy - achieves similar levels of income equality, because the culture of vast wage differentials simply does not exist.

3. Better Public Services

The third theme of a Labour decade will be enhancing collective provision, as a basis for individual opportunity.

Our goal will be to prove that universal health insurance means better value for money and better care for every citizen, not a threat to the level of service enjoyed by private patients.

We need to create to a public transport system that is fast and reliable, so that people get out of their cars and vote with their feet. We do not have a hope of meeting our current or future emissions targets without radical, and collective, solution to our transport needs.

We would build more and better public spaces - parks and plazas, as well as swimming pools and streets - that encourage people to feel safe, and to take part in the life of their community.

And we will defend universal education as an investment that pays for itself many times over, not a drain on the Exchequer.

4. A Sustainable Environment

Labour has a long and proud record on the environment. Our local councillors in particular, have been to the fore in promoting good planning and sustainable development.

We recently published a Climate Change Bill - the only political party to commit to a legally enforceable strategy to reduce carbon emissions; to make our contribution to dealing with the urgent global imperative of climate change; and to create the conditions for investment in alternative energy, which is critical if we are to become a low-carbon economy.

5. Reform

The fifth pillar of our agenda in government must be the reinvention of government itself. We will be the generation that radically reforms public life in Ireland.

We need to get rid, once and for all, of the crony culture that has dragged down public life in this country. The Labour Party has put forward its proposals for far-reaching reform: drastically reduced limits on political donations, and greater transparency in political funding; legislation to restore the Freedom of Information Act, to register lobbyists, and to protect whistleblowers; ending voluntary self-regulation, and putting good corporate governance on a statutory footing.

But perhaps we need to go further. If we look back on the past twelve years in particular, we have to ask how government has become so ineffective - so slow to recognise any problem, so lethargic in dealing with it. This is essentially a political problem, but we must also look at the structures of government.

Is our electoral system fit for purpose in a 21st century Ireland? What is the future of social partnership, if any? What can we do to bring a more diverse range of talent and expertise into the Dáil and into Cabinet? I, for one, would be open to the idea of opening up Cabinet and junior ministries to individuals who are not TDs, but who have a particular set of skills or expertise that the country could benefit from.

But our idea of reform is not confined to the public sector. Labour is the only party to have advocated far-reaching reforms of the corporate world, because we recognise that the crisis in our economy was not caused by surplus clerical officers in a State agency, but by the greedy, corrupt and criminal practices of some of those to whom corporate governance had been entrusted.

Labour will be the government for reform.

6. Our Place in the World

And finally - as Robert Emmet sought - we will take our place among the nations of the earth. Fully engaged and playing an active role in the European Union; seeking a better, fairer, more peaceful world, where the energy and resources of humankind are dedicated to ending poverty, not fomenting war; curing illness and saving our planet, and not exploiting poor nations. Because internationalism has always been at the heart of Labour's values.

In playing our part in the wider world, we can be increasingly proud and determined about our own culture, heritage and traditions. I believe, for example, that Labour in government would do more in ten years for the Irish language than Fianna Fáil has done in nearly 80. As evidence, we can proudly point to the courage and vision of our Party President, Michael D. Higgins, who established what is now TG4.

Organising and Winning for a Labour-led Government

Wishing for a Labour-led government - even picturing what it might do - is one thing. Winning the seats necessary to achieve it is another.

Over the next couple of months, at national and constituency level, we will be analysing the detailed results and tallies of the recent elections, and considering the organisational and electoral strategies which we must pursue, if we are to compete for a Labour-led government.

What candidate strategies do we need to agree? Where do we have the prospect of winning more than one seat - and where else might we have a chance, with a bit more effort?

What improvements in organisation do we need to make?

How many additional members and supporters do we need to mobilise to achieve our objectives?

How do we provide the constituency service that is required to win more seats?

How do we raise the additional resources which will be required?

Fortunately, we have made a good start on all of this, by agreeing at our conference in Mullingar, the Report of the 21st Century Commission to reform our Party, and to make it fit for the purpose of winning a general election.

But we now have to press on with implementing these reforms, which have only one purpose: enabling us to bring about a Labour-led government.

I am glad that this weekend has been dedicated to the idea of a Labour-led government, and that you asked me here tonight to speak to the topic.

Because it enables me to tell you, yet again, that a Labour-led government is my ambition for the Labour Party, which I have the honour to lead. That it is only a Labour-led government that can now lead our country out of this appalling mess.

I do not know for certain when we will succeed - whether it will be the next general election, or the one after that. But I am glad that we will leave Galway this weekend strengthened in our belief that there can and will be a Labour-led government.

Clear in our minds about what a Labour-led government is for.

More determined to make it happen.

And better equipped to persuade others to join with us in achieving it.