Letters: At least when we ‘waste’ money, it’s on a hospital for our children

Sir — In some countries, the most expensive contemporary construction project is a gilded mosque, marble temple or granite cathedral, dedicated to whatever deities the state supports.

In others, no expense is spared on a military or defence installation, a nuclear power plant or a propagandist, sports-washed, soon-to-be derelict stadium built using slave labour.

In Ireland, however, our equivalent is, thankfully, a children’s hospital. Given what this says about our nation and society and where our money is spent, however unwisely, would we wish it to be anything else? What this says about our economy is also something of note.

Among all the countries in the world, little Ireland is the record holder for the highest financial outlay on a public medical centre, significantly more than €2bn, we hear, and quite extraordinarily we have it to spare.

Just 30 years ago, the cost of hosting the Eurovision Song Contest was so likely to usher in potential fiscal bankruptcy that an entrepreneur from Millstreet in Co Cork had to step in to save us from embarrassment. In this regard, we perhaps have come a long way.

So why are we still up in arms and so shocked as we approach the completion of this wonderful, world-class facility that we hope will heal and save the lives of our most vulnerable and seriously ill children?

Is it just about the cost or time overrun? Why does this surprise us so much with buildings? Even one of the last universally popular RTÉ figures, Dermot Bannon, never comes in on or under budget and takes way longer than originally planned on Room to Improve, with minuscule, by comparison, domestic builds or extensions.

What should a hospital cost anyway in the built-up western world where rigorous planning, exhaustive expert reports and reams of legal and regulatory red tape are obligatory? I’m not sure you can buy one on Amazon or get ChatGPT to generate one just yet.

Why is the big story only about endless problems rather than the soon-to-be solution?

Has anyone driven past the new hospital site recently? It’s magnificent. It was never going to cost anything like what was originally mooted; and our sick children deserve nothing less.

Of course, there have been mistakes, overruns, oversights, unforeseen costs and obstructions, ridiculously premature initial projections for opportunistic political gain and, lest we forget, it is decades overdue.

For sure, the money wasted could have been put to better use. More than that, every side of the debate and political spectrum is, as usual, thinking only about whether they will be elected again rather than what is under our noses, and that is a large part of the problem too.

However, our nation’s health is bigger than this. Whenever the hospital is eventually opened, the taoiseach and minister of the day, whoever they might be, will triumphantly smile and cut the ribbon and claim the glory.

But thankfully, whenever that day comes, the families and children of Ireland will own it for ever, beyond any temporal government’s term of office, and it will only have cost less than one sixth the price of a single aircraft carrier. How lucky we are is all relative.

Kevin Shortall, Clondalkin, Co Dublin

Privatising RTÉ is now the only sensible call

Sir — Is it not now time to ­consider if we really need a state-owned media company? Surely it would make more sense if the Government privatised RTÉ. The new owners could negotiate pay and conditions with staff without causing the uproar we get every time the earnings of someone in RTÉ are revealed, because taxpayers would not be subsidising it.

Services we desperately need for our daily lives have been ­privatised. Every other TV station must exist without subsidies. Surely RTÉ can as well. It’s the only logical solution.

Ruth Gorman, Drogheda, Co Louth

Broadcaster’s woes are not behind us

Sir — It is obvious our once renowned national broadcaster needs help, big time. I thought about setting up a GoFundMe platform as I used to swear by RTÉ, but now I just swear at it.

What has been revealed in the last few months has been an unmerciful financial abomination. Having been feckless, wasteful and incompetent was just the tip of the iceberg; but then to give mega exit deals to personnel who were at the heart of the matter is pure insanity.

So to try to give the last few licence-payers something to ­remember the broadcaster by, I suggest RTÉ The Musical ­Merry-Go-Round. It probably won’t make much money, but it will be as near to the pantomime at RTÉ as you can get.

Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, I leave Donnybrook with buckets of money I go?

Vincent O’Connell, New Ross, Co Wexford

Putting on the poor mouth is a bit rich

Sir — RTÉ has been brazenly lying for many years about the need for more and more capital funding and direct cash from the licence fee.

The revelation that former chief financial officer Breda O’Keeffe received a €450,000 exit payment is all the proof anyone needs that RTÉ doesn’t need money. Instead, it needs scathing public criticism for pleading the poor mouth while being one of the best-endowed institutions of state.

It is rich indeed that RTÉ’s PR machine continued the spiel that they could barely keep the broadcaster going. RTÉ appears to have all the characteristics of a phoney bleeding-heart charity, run at the public’s expense, with no justification for the incessant begging bowl.

Maurice Fitzgerald, Shanbally, Co Cork

Superb staff have kept show on road

Sir — I have huge admiration and respect for the professionalism shown by RTÉ’s staff over the last year — without doubt it has been public broadcasting at its best. No quarter was given by its news and current affairs staff in reporting and interrogating its own grubby news story from the get-go.

They have kept the show on the road, and much of that excellence is down to the background staff. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the management team or the board, both new and old.

The first item of change should be to dispense with the intimidating title of director general and adapt a more fitting title of CEO, which will bring about more inclusivity to staff and stakeholders.

Aidan Roddy, Cabinteely, Dublin 18

Revenue plan leaves many of us tuned out

Sir — It seems to have escaped political party spokespersons that if the TV licence was replaced with a household charge collected by Revenue, those in receipt of the Household Benefits Package, or who are over 70, will lose the benefit of the free TV licence.

How will this be addressed, and will those who had qualified for a free TV licence get an allowance equal to the €160 benefit? With upcoming elections in mind, will the government parties sidestep this issue until the electorate has spoken?

Gerry Duffy, Cahir, Co Tipperary

Tradition is left on ash heap of history

Sir — Another Ash Wednesday has passed in Dáil Éireann without the annual parade of our leaders demonstrating the traditional ash cross on their foreheads. Changed times indeed.

Mick O’Brien, Springmount, Kilkenny

Flights might benefit from a heavy hand

Sir — Finnair recently ann-ounced a voluntary weighing-in policy at departure gates.

May I suggest a plan for our own Ryanair? I propose that the amount charged per flight is linked to the individual’s BMI (body mass index).

On each flight there would be four weight classes. First, the underweight class, or less than 18.5 BMI. Then, normal class, or 18.5 to 24.9 BMI, followed by overweight class, which would be 25-29.9 BMI. Finally, obesity class — a BMI of 30 or more.

If underweight, you get a free ­carry-on bag. Normal gets you a carry-on bag for €10. Overweight pays €20 for a carry-on bag. Obesity class costs €30 per carry-on.

In Ireland, 25pc of people are obese, 35pc are overweight, 30pc are normal and 10pc are underweight. So, on a full flight with everyone having a carry-on bag, on the Boeing 737-800, which seats 189 passengers, Ryanair would make an extra €3,300 per flight, made up of €0 for 19 underweight seats, €570 for 57 normal seats, €1,320 for 66 ­overweight seats and €1,410 for 47 obesity seats.

By the way, Michael O’Leary, being five-foot-10 and weighing 170 pounds, would be considered normal, with a BMI of 24.4.

Kevin Devitte, Westport, Co Mayo

Referendum would marginalise women

Sir — Women who have chosen to work in the home for the good of their families receive very little recognition or support. Having their role recognised and enshrined within the Constitution highlights an awareness of the often unseen work they do.

Removing articles 41.2.1 and 41.2.2 would, I fear, lead to ­serious demoralisation of these women, a group who have too long been marginalised and overlooked in our society.

Rather than removing the ­current recognition and protection given to women in the home, why not add to the above articles, to recognise other care-givers whose work may not be currently recognised as it should?

Treasa Ní Mhuircheartaigh, Rathmines, Dublin 6

Hot potato of family is hard to swallow

Sir — In the upcoming referendums, we are being asked to delete references to the “home” and to hand over to the courts a hot potato, that of redefining the “family” as they interpret the phrase “other durable relationships”.

The human rights implications of cutting our understanding of family adrift from being founded upon marriage has strangely ­escaped comment. In the same way as our capitalist economic system threatens the environment, it is also dismembering our families. Currently, home break-up is the major cause of homelessness, while our birth rate has fallen unsustainably, such that we as a people are no longer replacing ourselves.

Redefining the family so that it is cut off from its natural moorings (marriage) is merely an unwelcome distraction.

Last month’s Supreme Court unanimous decision (7:0) in the John O’Meara case, where he was awarded a widower’s pension despite the State’s ­opposition, demonstrates that politicians cannot predict how the Supreme Court will interpret vague phrases. It also shows that the real problem is not the wording of our Constitution, but that the legislature has failed to honour our Constitution’s wording.

Gearóid Duffy, Lee Road, Cork

Transport plans are destroying our cities

Sir — David Quinn’s article (‘Anti-car crusade driving motorists towards rebellion’, February 11) is straightforward, honest and direct. I couldn’t agree with him more.

As a car user, I see the war that has been waged on the motorist for some considerable time now by our politicians, Dublin City Council (DCC) and the Green Party.

Motorists keep the motor trade and the many employed in that sector buoyant. We pay considerable taxes to use our roads, to register and insure our vehicles and for the energy to power them.

The new DCC transport plan clearly favours some citizens (cyclists, pedestrians, bus users) over others, which appears discriminatory and deeply unfair.

Our capital is being destroyed incrementally by those making such decisions. You take your life in your hands when driving along the coastal road in ­Clontarf/Dollymount as it has been narrowed to accommodate cycle lanes that few seem to use. There is no margin of error if a large bus is passing.

There are numerous cycle lanes where I live and they are often empty for most of the day while cars are dangerously corralled into narrow spaces.

Maureen O’Driscoll, Swords, Co Dublin

Private cars not the answer to problems

Sir — What David Quinn’s piece did not explore was how the best cities, in terms of the Urban Mobility Readiness ­Index, transport millions of people daily with efficiency, affordability and accessibility. The answer is not the car.

In fact, the scientific evidence suggests increased roadway expansion is likely to increase vehicle miles travelled. This is called “induced demand”. In short, you can’t build yourself out of congestion. Think of the M50. The best urban transport systems are integrated and ­utilise trains, subways, buses, bike lanes and boats.

Dublin is not even at the races. It has a limited train network, no subway system and relies on buses, which become ensnared in traffic congestion.

Demand management strategies, such as higher parking charges and removing parking spaces, are a manifestation of the failure to invest in public transport infrastructure. The key issues for consumers are accessibility and availability.

Andy Hales, Kenmare, Co Kerry

Irish politics awash with useless idiots

Sir — I couldn’t agree more with your columnist Declan Lynch — there’s nothing worse than useful idiots, is there? He rightly pours scorn on the majority of British voters who were “fantastically crooked, nasty and moronic” in their support for Brexit (February 11).

That’s the terrible problem with democracy. Before you know where you are, the majority, the useful idiots, are running amok and, worse still, getting ideas of their own.

Declan Lynch, to his great credit, fearlessly condemns the rise of populism. What right do stupid people have, some of whom can barely read, to influence or partake in the running of the nation? The answer has to be a resounding “none”.

Just look what happened when populism had its way and the voices of reason like Mr Lynch were ignored — Brexit and Trump. Thankfully, order has been restored with Biden, Zelensky, Netanyahu and Von der Leyen, albeit with a couple of wars.

The only things worse than “useful idiots” are “useless ­idiots”, and I’m afraid the Irish political elite is well endowed with the latter, a circumstance the media intelligentsia does not seem to have noticed.

Maire Ni Choscaire, Athlone, Co Westmeath

A fitting tribute to fine servant Bruton

Sir — I wish to thank you for the respectful and deeply ­reflective coverage on the life and death of John Bruton.

The Ireland that shaped John has changed. He honoured that Ireland with all its faults and failures by a life truly well lived in service of the country he loved, always drawing on the timeless values and traditions inherited from his native land.

Eileen Davey, Laytown, Co Meath

Belfast stakes claim as our ‘second city’

Sir — Conor Skehan writes knowledgeably about the very real differences between Northern Ireland and the Republic (‘The North is a very different place and we need to face up to that reality’, February 11).

It is true; the North’s urbanisation stands in stark contrast to one of the most rural societies in the EU, south of the Border.

It might not go down well in some quarters, but I’ve always believed Belfast to be Ireland’s second city, and what better way to enjoy some of what it has to offer than by dipping into the spring 2024 edition of the Discover Northern Ireland ­brochure that came free with your paper last Sunday.

Tom McElligott, Listowel, Co Kerry

Ministers are too often the fall guys

Sir — It would do a lot for the quality of public administration if employees at the sharp end more often suffered the consequences of incompetence, instead of ministers taking the symbolic rap for failures they cannot reasonably have been expected to know anything about.

John O’Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary

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