The grass is not always greener

To quote the outgoing Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern, Charles Mangion, Labour's interim leader, wrote (The Limping EU Tigers, April 16) that "the money we spend needs to be directed at improving our competitiveness". Agreed. He suggested that "inflation will be controlled, the physical and social infrastructure will improve and wasteful bureaucracy will be kept in check". Agreed.

Now, if Dr Mangion really believes what he wrote, as deputy Labour leader, he should have moved heaven and earth to explain to his party that the measures proposed in its electoral campaign went diametrically opposite to his beliefs. It's all well and good to pontificate and sound intelligent but it's not that easy to practise what you preach, is it?

Although Ireland's business model might be failing because the cost of doing business there is becoming increasingly unsustainable, it is highly unlikely that, in Malta, under a Nationalist government, we are running the risk of following suit.

It would have been another story had the Labour Party been elected to govern. In its electoral programme, Labour, the government always-in-waiting, proposed that workers be awarded more "leave" to make up for any public holiday falling on a weekend. Seeing that local industry would, overnight have lost out on countless numbers of hours of production, how Labour's vote-catching proposal was going to add our competitiveness is anybody's guess.

Every fool would agree that, to perform successfully on the international tightrope, under no circumstance should working hours, let alone days, be depleted and/or go to waste. To quote the Governor of the Central Bank, Michael Bonello: "In today's circumstances, Malta cannot afford to be less competitive than other countries also in the eurozone" and we must heed his advice that "We must find a way of striking a balance between compensation received by workers and their productivity" (April 24).

I fully concur with The Times editorial that "raising productivity usually requires an all-round response to problems" (April 18). Low productivity can, at times, be blamed on the workers but outdated work practices could also very well be held responsible for the deficiency. Another gross shortcoming could be the lack of continuous investment in some of the "older" private businesses.

Dr Mangion also believes that one of Ireland's "biggest mistakes committed by the Irish government is that it failed to invest in the country's social and physical infrastructure when the going was good". May I point out that, under the Nationalist government, the going was good (and is still good, thank you very much) and it has succeeded in not failing the Irish way. The government indefatigably invested heavily in the health and social infrastructure - suffice it to mention the state-of-the-art Mater Dei Hospital, the old people's homes, the pharmacy of your choice, the surcharge exemption to over 30,000 families, the myriad of social benefits granted to the less fortunate, the children's' allowance awarded across the board, the modern and diversified housing schemes, the tax rebates and tax reductions etc.

The government is still dedicating hard cash and energy on upgrading our roads and safeguarding our national heritage. It also intends to spend a chunk of its savings, to the fantastic tune of €300 million, on the environment. During the last legislature it focused and is still focusing on creating thousands of new jobs, on upgrading communications, on improving widespread IT services, on revamping off-season tourism and, last but not least, on attracting mega-foreign investments, which topped the €1,400 million (Lm575 million) mark last year alone.

To make good for the incredible oil price hikes, the government introduced the surcharge to keep its books in order. Labour criticised this "fair" measure tooth and nail and, during its electoral campaign, promised to do away with it or, at least, halve it, pronto. I am no economist, but every Tom, Dick and Harry, excluding the blinkered Labourites, of course, can see that this wasteful and irresponsible proposal would have burdened and irreparably dented the national coffers in the short, medium and long term. It would also have reversed all tax reductions introduced by the Nationalist government to date.

Dr Mangion ventured further. He wrote that another lesson, which the Irish have learnt and that we too need to learn, "is that educational reform is a constant requirement... Ireland has attracted some of the most technologically-advance industries in IT, pharmaceuticals and medical instruments manufacturing". Excuse me, considering that SmartCity lies on our door step and call centres, financial services, pharmaceutical companies are mushrooming all over our island, isn't Dr Mangion preaching to the converted, so to speak? As far as educational reform is concerned, the electorate has just voted in favour of more than a €100 million (Lm50 million) investment for the new Mcast campus whilst sparing us Labour's version of "educational reform", as in the reception/repeaters' class, which was unceremoniously shown the door!

May I remind Dr Mangion that, when he was still dreaming of becoming the Minister of Finance, his absurd solution to meet higher national expenditure and rising inflation was to propose a reduction in funds for social benefits, health services and pensions.

A parting shot: Malta is not Ireland neither is Ireland's grass greener... even it happens to be bright Irish green.