The scandal that never seems to go away has taken another twist with Cardinal Sean Brady facing new calls for his resignation over the revelation that he participated in a confidential internal Catholic church inquiry into the paedophile activities of the notorious Father Brendan Smyth as long ago as 1975. Although the then Father Brady heard the testimony of two of Smyth's victims and has made it clear that he believed them, no contact was made with Gardai and Smyth remained at large and in a position to abuse many more victims over the following 20 years. Cardinal Brady has argued that he carried out his duty by reporting the matter to his bishop as a result of which Smyth was removed from his "pastoral ministry" and that it's not reasonable to judge the events of 1975 by the standards of today. Nevertheless abuse survivors have called for him to resign. What do you think? Is Cardinal Brady's ability to embody the necessary high standards now fatally undermined? Or should allowances be made for the tendency of a relatively young priest to assume that his superiors knew best?
Also, while mega developer Johnny Ronan has hit the headlines with his lavish lifestyle other property investors say they're being unfairly scapegoated. A new group called the Irish Property Council has been set up to represent smaller property investors who, they say, are not getting the understanding they need from the banks or the Government. They'll be with us to debate the issue with Richard Boyd Barrett of People Before Profit.
David Nally
Editor
Brian Cowen is expected to carry out his first cabinet reshuffle within the next three weeks and maybe as early as this week. It may be his last chance to win over the public and convince people that this Government can lead us out of the economic crisis. But is it already too late?
With its satisfaction rating at record lows, have people already made up their minds about this Government? Or, like Labour in the UK, is there a chance that people will keep an open mind and may decide to stick with what they know as the election draws neare?
Can the Taoiseach produce a line-up that, in time, will convince people that he does offer real leadership and that his Government does have the ideas and the talent to solve the problem of job creation? That's our topic tonight, Pat Kenny will be joined by Government and opposition, by Ger Colleran - editor of the Star newspaper and vocal critic of the Government - and by Paddy Duffy, a former advisor to Bertie Ahern and Government supporter. In the audience will be the usual lively and engaged mix of people with strong views on both sides.
You can post your comments below or email us on thefrontlineaudience@rte.ie. Hope you enjoy it
David Nally
Editor
The clamour for so-called `head shops' to be forcibly closed seems to grow by the week. Some campaigners and medical experts say that not only are the "legal highs" that they sell potentially dangerous but they're also introducing a whole new class of people to drugs - people who would never have taken illegal narcotics.
And yet, head shops can also be seen as proof that the "war on drugs" is a folly that cannot succeed. If the products that they sell - which imitate illegal drugs like ecstasy and cocaine while staying on the right side of the law - are specifically banned then surely the producers of those products will be ingenious enough to come up with replacements which are just as effective but also legal..
Where does it end? Is it possible to ban every mind-altering substance that people choose to take or is now the time to decide that it's better for drugs to be legal, visible and regulated than for this multi-billion industry to remain in the hands of criminal gangs? Some argue that the logical next step is to legalise cannabis, ecstasy and even heroin. But would that lead inevitably to a much increased intake of those drugs with all the devastating personal and societal consequences that could follow?
That's one of our subjects tonight and we'll be joined by those who want head shops consigned to the dustbin and those who say we should face the inevitable and legalise drugs completely.
Also, how do you feel about the likelihood that the state is about to invest a further €10- €15 billion (possibly more) of taxpayers money into our ailing banks? Is it madness to sink that kind of money into private banks with little prospect that much of it will ever come back to us? Is it really true that we have no choice? We'll be joined by an economist who says we should walk away from the banks now - also with us will be Brian Lucey of TCD who has led the charge against NAMA and thinks the Government's policy on the banks is delaying the inevitable and damaging the economy further.
Promises to be lively and informative.
Let us know what you think by posting your comment below or by emailing us at thefrontline@rte.ie
Dave Nally
Editor
If you're still at school or college or in the first flush of your career, chances are you'll be paying for the economic crisis for the rest of your life and possibly not even be aware of it. The billions in bonds that we sell to raise money to recapitalise the banks will all have to be repaid and it's the younger generation that will bear a lot of the burden.
And you don't have to look far into the future to feel uncertain about our economic prospects. The fact is that youth unemployment has jumped from around 10% to a staggering level of over 30% during this crisis and for many, Australia or Canada is now a far more inviting prospect than Ireland as a location to build a career and a life. Unlike the recession of the 1980s, however, this one will see many young people stay at home because job prospects in the UK, Germany etc. are not much brighter. Many of those young people have higher expectations than their 1980s counterparts and won't necessarily take recession lying down.
What does all of this mean? Should the younger generation take the opportunity now to eschew the tradition political parties and start forging a completely new politics? Is that just fantasy or is the real fantasy the idea that the current system can lead us out of trouble? Is the answer to take the initiative, start your own business and not look to the state? Or will that kind of individualism inevitably lead us back into the same cycle of boom and bust?
Tonight's programme will feature young people with experiences of emigration, unemployment and entrepeneurship along with strong views on how to change the system. Dylan Collins of Jolt Online Gaming will tell us how he made his millions and Stephen Kinsella, author of "Ireland in the year 2050" will be on hand to give us his prescription for getting out of the crisis. Ruairi McKiernan of spunout.ie will get things going at the top of the programme and the political parties will face the audience. It promises to be lively so we hope you enjoy it.
As regular readers of this blog will know, we'd planned to cover issues with the social welfare system last week. We'll be doing so tonight instead.
We're on at 2130 again this week, earlier than usual, RTÉ One.
So, news events have overtaken us and we've decided to shelve our prior plans. The social welfare topic deserves a full show and full attention, so we've set it aside for this week.
As many of you will be aware already, George Lee has resigned from Fine Gael and the Dáil. We'll be covering the causes and potential impact of his decision tonight. On our panel will be ex-Fine Gael minister Ivan Yates, political editor of the Sunday Business Post, Pat Leahy, and former Fianna Fáil TD, Jim Glennon.
Also in studio we'll have Noel Whelan, a political analyst and former member of Fianna Fáil; Elaine Byrne, columnist with The Irish Times and lecturer in the politics department of Trinity College, and David Farrell, a political scientist.
Pat Kenny will also be holding two one-on-one interviews; one with Fine Gael frontbencher, Leo Varadkar, and the other with George Lee himself.
Remember, we're on earlier than usual tonight, 9.30, RTÉ One.
Is it time to take a new look at social welfare?
Social welfare is the one part of the economy that goes up and up in a recession making it harder and harder to afford Our social welfare bill alone accounts for 35-40% of public spending and yet at €196 per week the basic jobseekers payment is barely enough to survive on.
But the raw figures disguise as much as they reveal. There are a myriad of social welfare allowances - lone parents, medical card, family income supplement, rent supplement etc. etc. - and it's very difficult to tell who is getting what, how many people have less than they need and how many households may be bringing in more in social welfare than is reasonable or affordable for the Irish economy.
Some argue that so many benefits are so easily lost as soon as you get a job that in reality many people are better off not getting a job - others see that as a back-door way of arguing that the poorest in society should pay for the recession.
You can see a couple of those arguments here in a document published by "The Poor Can't Pay" and a very different take here in an article based on a recent OECD study
The author of that study, David Grubb, will join us on the programme as will Sean Healy of CORI, Ed Walsh (ex President of Limerick University) and financial advisor Suzanne Kelly. In the audience will be many people claiming social welfare, employers who say they can't compete with what social welfare has to offer the unemployed and people who illustrate the many anomalies in the system including one man who says his family have to split up to make ends meet!
We're on at the earlier time of 9.30pm for tonight's special programme - you can text us on thefrontline@rte.ie or post your comment below.
David Nally
Editor
There are few subjects that illicit more emotion from the public than attacks on the elderly in their own homes. Right now a new bill to clarify the rights of people to fight back when their home is invaded is being debated in the Oireachtas, it is likely to become law soon.
There's a large measure of consensus that anyone who is faced with an attacker in their home does have a right to attack back and that there shouldn't be an onus on the householder to first attempt to retreat before resorting to attack.
There is still plenty of argument, however, about how much force should be acceptable and in what circumstances. Most of all, though, campaigners on the issue often argue that the right to fight back is largely useless to an elderly person whose home is attacked in the middle of the night. How many old age pensioners will be capable of producing a weapon and killing or seriously injuring a young man in those circumstances?
Far more useful, campaigners say, would be strong measures to prevent elderly people's homes being invaded in the first place. This week Justice Minister Dermot Ahern signalled his sympathy for that position with calls for mandatory sentencing for attacks on the elderly and said he had initiated a review of the option by the Law Reform Commission.
On The Frontline tonight we'll have arguments for and against the enhanced right to fight back against attacks in your own home and on the hot issue of mandatory sentencing.
Also we'll be joined the new President of the Irish Farmers Association John Bryan who has come out fighting against the power of the big retailers who, he says, are paying rip-off prices to farmers for their produce. At the same time, there are renewed campaigns, reminiscent of the 1980s, for us to "buy Irish" when we do our food shopping.
What do you think? As a country that exports the vast majority of its food produce should we be calling on consumers to buy Irish? Or should Irish food take its chances in the marketplace with imported food which may be cheaper? Can we trust the quality of imported food?
Let us know your view on both of these subjects by emailiing thefrontline@rte.ie or by posting your comments on this blog.
Enjoy the programme.
David Nally
Editor
Our theme tonight is what on earth are we going to do with all these vacant housing units? House builders, who don't accept that the true figure is anything like that high, say that demand will return to the market and the vacant houses/apartments will be sold sooner or later. Those who work in social housing or with the homeless say the state should buy (or take possession somehow) of these houses and use them for social housing or for housing the homeless - others envisage retirement villages, childcare and educational facilities etc.
But many economists say that with these houses becoming more dilapidated by the day, the vast majority will never be sold. Also, the State will only ever be able to use a small percentage for social housing or other social uses. Some believe that the only long-term solution is to bring in the bulldozers and write them off as a huge failure of planning and economics in this country.
What is life like on one of these ghost estates? Do people trapped in a house which is far from the dream they bought into have any way out? And where does NAMA come in - is it ultimately going to take possession of these houses as collateral for unpaid bank loans and if so, what value will be placed on them? Will the property developers who borrowed for and built these houses be able to pass the problem on to the taxpayer?
Minister for Housing Michael Finneran will join us tonight to argue the future of our ghost estates and empty houses with many others including residents, builders and economist. Let us know what you think by emailing thefrontline@rte.ie or commenting on this blog. And enjoy the show.
David Nally
Editor
Should Ireland's minimum wage be reduced? To those on low wages it will sound like an appalling prospect but with Government prioritising increased competitiveness as the way out of the economic mire, the minimum wage must be vulnerable. An OECD report published last November pointed out that our minimum wage is the second highest in the EU (falling to sixth highest when the figures are adjusted to take account of the high cost of living here) and said that "the level of the national minimum wage should be assessed and reviewed on an annual basis". It also said that unemployment allowances should be reduced in line with falling prices so that being unemployed doesn't become more attractive than having a minimum-wage job.
What do you think of all of this? Is it just another attack on the weakest - an attempt to make the lowest paid pay for the mistakes of the bankers, developers and politicians? Or is it common sense that if our minimum wage is the second highest in the EU and we need to become more competitive then it's got to fall? Jack O'Connor of SIPTU and Mark Fielding of ISME will go head to head on tonight's (18th January) programme and we'll have lots of lively contributions from the audience. Let us know what you think by commenting on this blog or emailing thefrontline(AT)rte(DOT)ie.
We'll also be discussing the Government's banking inquiry which is expected to be formally announced on tomorrow. Will it name and shame? Will it lead to valuable lessons being learned or will it just be a talking shop telling us essentially the things that we already know - banks engaged in reckless property lending over 10-12 years here and no one, especially not the regulators - shouted stop?
David Nally (editor)
The Big Freeze is dominating everyone's thoughts and it will dominate debate on The Frontline on Monday night too. Government will be represented along with others on the panel and we'll have the latest info plus intense debate from those affected and from those who have strong things to say about what this latest episode says about our ability to tackle emergencies.
Also the chief executive of the VHI Jimmy Tolan will be in studio to debate the company's decision to raise its premiums and the whole future of health insurance in Ireland. Is it just a reflection of the fact that we're all making bigger, more expensive demands on the health system or does it mean that the VHI and other health insurers aren't driving a sufficiently hard bargain with consultants and hospitals, paying exorbitant fees and passing the cost on to us?
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan impressed many with his honest and upfront interview on his health last Monday. But what did you make of his statement that he didn't enjoy any significant advantage in speed or quality of treament over a public patient? Does Private Health Insurance really confer no significant advantage in quality or speed of treatment? If so, why do 50% of the population pay for it? Is there a better, more equal, more efficient option out there?
Tonight's The Frontline is the last RTE Current Affairs production of the decade and it's been a decade of monumental change.
But are we worse off or better off at the end of it?
That's our theme tonight and it could head in any direction because we've got our usual complement of lively and thoughtful contributors.
Donal Gannon of KPMG who does those profiles each budget night that tell us how the budget has affected typical families is coming in to do a special comparison on how various groups of people stand now as compared to 10 years ago which should kick start an interesting debate. We'll also be looking at the influence of the internet on Irish life and revealing the top choices in our "story of the decade" competition.
We hope you'll watch and that you'll email us or text us with your own thoughts or follow us on twitter. Happy Xmas and here's to a lively 2010
David Nally (editor)
The Frontline team
We're hoping to do this every week on a Tuesday from now on. Apologies for the delay this week; first steps and that. It's the show cut down to five or six minutes for quick consumption. You can watch the whole show here.
Commentators and analysts have considered and opined upon Brian Lenihan’s budget over the last number of days. Some are calling it unfair, others pragmatic; there are critics and proponents in broadly equal numbers.
Tonight we’ll be looking at where the country goes from here.
Will the be budget be enough to whip the economy back into shape or is more pain required? Has Minister Lenihan and his advisors thought through the cuts and tax policy changes they’ve planned? Will this kickstart the ‘Smart Economy’? Are they or are they not fair? If not, why not?
In studio will be Conor Lenihan, Minister of State with Special Responsibility for Technology and Innovation and Natural Resources, economist David McWilliams and Patricia Callan of the Small Firms Association. Des Fagan of the CPSU and a number of people impacted by social welfare cuts will also be in attendance.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in tonight’s show please contact:
HSE helpline – 1800 235 234 – office hours
Website:
www.hse-ncs.ie/en Dublin Rape Crisis Centre - 1800 778888 – 24 hour helpline
Website:
http://www.drcc.ie/ One in Four - 01 6624070 – office hours
Website:
http://www.oneinfour.org/ Samaritans - 1850 609090 – 24 hour helpline
Website:
http://www.dublinsamaritans.ie/ Faoiseamh - 1800 331234 (Rep of Ireland) and 0800 973272 (Northern Ireland and Britain) – office hours
Website:
http://www.faoiseamh.com/ Connect - 1800 477 477 – Wednesday to Sunday: 6–10pm
Website:
http://www.connectcounselling.ie/
