A 'Minister for the Future'?

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

Just an idea.

One of the main reasons we are in the current morass that we are in is because of the incredible short sightedness we've seen demonstrated by the government and opposition parties.

I think a dedicated minister and department might be a nice start in ensuring that we make fewer mistakes going into the future.

We, like almost every other Western country has a rapidly ageing population and are facing a pension time bomb at some stage, although I think it'll be less of a problem for us before it is a big one for others.

The idea of energy security could be brought more prominence by such a minister, what happens if Russia turn off the tap?

What have we done to prevent another banking fiasco from happening in twenty years time?

If we had had a minister for the future over the past decade the then government may have had some insight into the economic collapse of Ireland before it happened, they probably wouldn't have heeded any warnings anyway, but they might have.

I would envision that our new minister would be charged with general planning for the future with the added brief of examining mistakes made in the past and making recommendations on how to avoid them in the future.

Is this a good idea or a bad one?

mcgarnicle

A better idea might be to get the ones we already have to do their jobs properly.