The Looney/Unrealistic Promises Thread!

mike65

Anyone got party policies which you know will NEVER happen?

The Greens are talking up a cut in Dail representatives from 166 to 130. This is a perfectly reasonable proposition. It will also NEVER happen!

Mike.

Zaph

Yeah, turkeys voting for Christmas sprung to mind when I saw that one. Pity really as it is a good idea, we're vastly over-represented and doing away with a bunch of TDs would save a fortune. New Zealand, which has a similar population only has 120 members of parliament, so maybe the Greens aren't going far enough!

gandalf

Actually I admire them for saying it. As I have said before we are way over represented for the size of country that we are.

Looney propositions would be the so called stamp duty issue from all sides, as someone helping to sell a house and looking for one at the same time the issue is interest rates and not stamp duty. The second stamp duty is scrapped for FTB the prices will go up.

The_Minister

gandalf wrote:

The second stamp duty is scrapped for FTB the prices will go up.

It should not go up anywhere near the full amount, as long as everyone else has to pay it.

E92

The PDs wanting to cut the top rate of tax to 38%, when Fianna Fail want it cut to 40%. A very clear policy difference. The PDs didnt get their way on tax last time(top rate earners were supposed to be on 40% by now, another promise the outgoing government didnt deliver on), why would they in the future, plus no matter how well they do, FF wont have as many seats next time round(unless this whole Bertie thing goes on forever, but will the public put him in there knowing if he does get in that Feel and Fail will have been in government for 23 of the past 25 years by 2012 remains to be seen), and the PDs have no hope of power unless they're in with FF.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Raiser

Original thread on Limerick Board: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=53164215#post53164215
Link to original story in Limerick Post Newspaper: http://www.limerickpost.ie/dailynews.elive?id=7814&category=Daily-Thu

Raiser wrote:

http://www.limerickpost.ie/dailynews...gory=Daily-Thu

Absolutely great news - Limerick is going to be the only City on the Planet to get a light-rail system before ever having gotten an efficient/viable Bus Service.

Despite being an election candidate, Peter Power has somehow found the time to promise the Citizens of Limerick City a "LUAS" service weeks before polling day - Limerick being the same City that goes against the Global norm by erecting brand new Bus Stops without providing a shelter for those who regularily wait 90 minutes in one of the wettest climates in the World for a Bus which may or may not arrive.

In a Country where National rail routes are less in number than the fingers on your Great Uncle Tony's left hand; Limerick is amazingly going to benefit by having trains whisk commuters around our streets like something outta Battlestar Galactica.

Peter Power and Fianna Fail are obviously so well funded and supported that despite my eternal gratitude to Railroad-Pete I am going to make sure my votes are very far removed from Petes polling card selection box next May 24th in order to support the underdogs

aidan24326

The looney season is in alright.

Fine Gael election poster '2,000 new hospital beds'. 10 yards down the street - Labour election poster '2,300 new hospital beds'

Yeah sure :rolleyes:

And how I wonder are they going to fund and staff this plethora of new hospital beds? They apparently think we're all as thick as sh1t.

EDIT I'm waiting for the Fianna Fail one that says 2,600 new hospital beds :-) or would they even dare?

E92

Well the stament that Fine Gael will put 2,000 extra hospital beds is incorrect; it is the party policy that 2,300 extra beds will be delivered as part of Endas contract.

In relation to Feel and Fail I wouldnt put it past them to try and surpass the Fine Gael and Labour partys promise to deliver 2,300 extra hospital beds. Its auction politics when we do it, but its 'prudent' when they do it.

Marcais

E92 wrote:

Well the stament that Fine Gael will put 2,000 extra hospital beds is incorrect; it is the party policy that 2,300 extra beds will be delivered as part of Endas contract.

In relation to Feel and Fail I wouldnt put it past them to try and surpass the Fine Gael and Labour partys promise to deliver 2,300 extra hospital beds. Its auction politics when we do it, but its 'prudent' when they do it.

It's auction politics from both your parties and the only unfortuante thing is that one of you will be in power. Hopefully there is a strong enough minority and independent vote to do the job that the PDs failed so miserably to do as "watchdogs" over Fianna Fail.....more like lapdogs.

brianthebard

Personally I think SF's claim to ten seats is pretty unrealistic. I'd say they'll pick up a few new ones, but they won't have ten.

flogen

McDowell said he wanted to double the PDs representation when he was elected leader - I think he'll be lucky to get away with a halving of it.

As far as promises go, I think FG's tougher sentences, tougher bail conditions is pretty laughable as it ignores the terminal case of overcrowding in our prison system. I also think the 2,300 hospital beds is a moot point when you don't a) have space for them or b) enough staff to see to the patients in them. It seems to be a case of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic if you overlook staffing issues in favour of beds - imagine telling a patient "yea, you'll be waiting another 5 hours to see anyone, but hey, at least you get to writhe in pain on a bed rather than a trolley!"

I agree about the Green policy on cutting representation - if it does happen it'll be a very slow process drawn out over 10 future elections. The doubling of Dáil sitting time also seems like something that no big party would really back - too much time away from the parish pump for their liking.

Zaph

flogen wrote:

imagine telling a patient "yea, you'll be waiting another 5 hours to see anyone, but hey, at least you get to writhe in pain on a bed rather than a trolley!"

Well as someone who spent 26 hour on a trolley before being admitted a couple of months ago I can tell you that even that would have been preferable. Those trolleys are definitely not built for comfort.

nesf

flogen wrote:

I also think the 2,300 hospital beds is a moot point when you don't a) have space for them or b) enough staff to see to the patients in them. It seems to be a case of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic if you overlook staffing issues in favour of beds - imagine telling a patient "yea, you'll be waiting another 5 hours to see anyone, but hey, at least you get to writhe in pain on a bed rather than a trolley!"

Yeah, I've always wondered if they could get away with saying that they meant it literally and that they put in 2,300 extra beds in St. James' carpark or something.

nesf

Actually a proposed change by Enda Kenny to the inspections of farms made me raise an eyebrow:

“Fine Gael believes farmers are entitled to: advance notice for cross compliance inspections, the opportunity to rectify infringements before they face penalties and a code of practice for the conduct of inspections which applies to inspectors and farmers.

The idea of advanced warning given to farmers to make sure that they are complying with what they need to be complying? Idiocy if you want my blunt opinion. The code of practice mightn't be a bad idea though again it needs to be balanced and not facilitate farmers ignoring standards etc.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Pat Rabitte poster on the bus the other day claiming all fares will be reduced to €1

brianthebard

nesf wrote:

Actually a proposed change by Enda Kenny to the inspections of farms made me raise an eyebrow:



The idea of advanced warning given to farmers to make sure that they are complying with what they need to be complying? Idiocy if you want my blunt opinion. The code of practice mightn't be a bad idea though again it needs to be balanced and not facilitate farmers ignoring standards etc.

Its not a bad idea, a lot of farmers nowadays are off the farm more than on it, they shouldn't be penalised because they weren't able to go fencing or fix something else that might be wrong just because they were caught on the hop. Besides if a farmer is outrightly breaking the code of practise they'll need an awful lot more than a week or two to fix things up.

Múinteoir

brianthebard wrote:

Its not a bad idea, a lot of farmers nowadays are off the farm more than on it, they shouldn't be penalised because they weren't able to go fencing or fix something else that might be wrong just because they were caught on the hop. Besides if a farmer is outrightly breaking the code of practise they'll need an awful lot more than a week or two to fix things up.

Yes it's quite reasonably in the context of many farmers having other jobs off the farm because of falling incomes. They can't be expected to run out of another job at the drop of a hat to meet an inspector.

nesf

brianthebard wrote:

Its not a bad idea, a lot of farmers nowadays are off the farm more than on it, they shouldn't be penalised because they weren't able to go fencing or fix something else that might be wrong just because they were caught on the hop. Besides if a farmer is outrightly breaking the code of practise they'll need an awful lot more than a week or two to fix things up.

Perhaps, but it all comes down to the fine print. If it's a few days warning it's fine, if it's a few weeks it's a bit much. It'll only help part time farmers if they can get (fairly) precise dates (as in Monay morning the 15th of September or something).


But, my concern wasn't really for the part timers or basically good ones. It was for the guys who are breaking these things constantly by neglecting to repair fences, letting animals wander and doing crap like washing out a slurry tank into the river (not good for the fish). Giving any kind of long warning to them is a bad thing. That and there are some things that need to be done regardless of how much time you have to spend off the land tbh.

brianthebard

I agree with you, but its quite easy to see which farmers are good at what they do and which one's aren't. I know that farmers are given notice for tests that have to be done, so they can have the selected herd in a certain pen at a time, afaik that notice is 10 working days. If someone is flushing slurry into a nearby river that type of thing will be obvious for months to come, never mind a week or two.

nesf

brianthebard wrote:

I agree with you, but its quite easy to see which farmers are good at what they do and which one's aren't. I know that farmers are given notice for tests that have to be done, so they can have the selected herd in a certain pen at a time, afaik that notice is 10 working days. If someone is flushing slurry into a nearby river that type of thing will be obvious for months to come, never mind a week or two.

Yes but it's very hard to say who flushed the slurry when it's a large river with different people's land adjoining it. I don't know, when I read it kind of struck a nerve for me. On one hand I've an awful lot of respect for the guys who keep farms going despite the drop in money coming in from Brussels, but on the other I have serious issues with the (unfortunately) significant minority who really just take the piss both environmentally and in a general sense responsibly. I'm worried that if they make the legislation too farmer friendly that too many of these guys will slip through the net.

Múinteoir

mike65 wrote:

Anyone got party policies which you know will NEVER happen?

The Greens are talking up a cut in Dail representatives from 166 to 130. This is a perfectly reasonable proposition. It will also NEVER happen!

Mike.

Trevor Sargent in his Ard-Fheis speech wrote:

There was a time when people said that the Green Party being in Government was about as likely as the English rugby team playing in Croke Park. Well, times have changed.

.

pjbrady1

The truth is with the inevitable tax take slowdown all of the parties promises and policies are unrealistic.
Effortlessly unemployment from now till 2008 can reach 7.5%.
Without a reduction in public service employment the goverments bank account will be butchered by public service wages.
Running the economy based on GDP increasing is crazy.
If you go on CSO.IE and look at employment stats you can see a whole range of sectors that will reduce linearly with construction.
eg. construction in 2005 = 242,000 people., 2006 = 262,000.
So construction 2007 = ? - straight back to 242,000 at the minimum.
Other sectors that are realy soft to a downturn, hotel and restaurants, production industries, retail and wholesale.

Quite simply house completions down to <68,000 automatically will drag down the economy severely.

McSandwich

Bertie revealing all before the election?

Mick86

mike65 wrote:

Anyone got party policies which you know will NEVER happen?

The Greens are talking up a cut in Dail representatives from 166 to 130. This is a perfectly reasonable proposition. It will also NEVER happen!

Mike.

The Greens are big into cuts;

The Green Party believes that the Transport 21 plan provides a usefullong term financial commitment to spending on transport projects by future governments. We will work within the plan's spending parameters but will shift spending priorities within the budget, to promote public transport, cycling and walking.

We will set three targets to measure our progress:

Halve the number of road deaths within our first full term in office.

Reverse the recent 6 per cent per annum increases in oil consumption to an annual average 2 per cent reduction to meet the climate change challenge and to match the annual reductionin world oil supplies following a peak in global oil production.

Halve average commuting distances which have almost trebled over the last 25 years due to bad planning

Fianna Fáil is going to put 4000 extra teachers in place and hire 2000 extra Gardai. (Haven't we seen that last one somewhere before?)

The PDs are to get tougher on crime, better on health, better on the environment and all the good stuff.

If only FF and the PDs had been in government this last few years....

marie_85

Tbh, anything FF and the PDs promise us should be taken with a very large pinch of salt. They've had ten years to provide us with a decent health service, more Gardai, an education system where parents can actually get their children into the local school etc. But FF promising to get rid of stamp duty a couple of months after Cowan said it would be unfeasible is the most ridiculous out of all. If they wanted to cut stamp duty, then what has been stopping them?

McSpud

Greens transport policy is more walking. Will there be free umbrellas with that?

SF want to re-Nationalise Aer Lingus. It took us long enough to get rid of them & they want them back.

SF to create a National Exploration Company. No cost given despite changes of a find off the irish coast is 1 in 30. :eek: