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Gilmore accuses Govt of workshouse mentality and defends principle of universality

Issued : Friday 31 October, 2008

Labour Party Leader Eamon Gilmore has accused Taoiseach Brian Cowen of reverting to a workhouse mentality. Deputy Gilmore made his comments in response to remarks made yesterday by Mr Cowen who warned of possible further spending cutbacks.

Speaking during a constituency visit to Mayo Deputy Gilmore went on to say that there was an unanswerable case for universalism, particularly in regard to the areas of health and education.

"The Victorians believed that the public purse should support only the most destitute, and then only under the most stringent and exacting terms.

"That workhouse mentality is alive and well in Ireland today. While across the world, the disciples of Thatcher, Reagan and Bush are in retreat, in Ireland the New Victorians are still determined to trim social provision to the bone.

"The Budget contains within it a direct attack on the principle of universality. While the initial cut in medical card provision has been partially reversed, the principle of universality in health care for those over 70 has been removed. Once means-testing is in place, the record shows that the number of medical cards will be slowly but surely whittled down.

"Meanwhile, third level fees are being brought in through the back door of so-called 'registration fees', and child benefit is next in the firing line. Primary education, a constitutional right, is further undermined by spending cuts.

"Universality is not an abstract notion - it is a statement of who we are as a people.

"Universality means that those over 70 should have a medical card, not just because it will save the taxpayer money in the long-run (which it will), and not because of any charitable impulse. They should have it, because health care is a basic human need and a basic human right, and because of the value that we place on each and every member of our community.

"The principle of universality is based on the idea that there are certain things in life that are necessary to human existence, human dignity and human flourishing. They are and should be available on an equal basis, as of right, to all members of the community. With those rights comes the responsibility to contribute to the cost of providing these services through fair taxation.

"Social democracy, which is the political philosophy of the Labour Party, means extending democratic values into the social and economic sphere. Once the great battles of the 19th century for the right to vote and for civil liberties had been won, the Labour movement sought in the 20th century to extend those democratic ideas of equality and human dignity into the social arena.

"The universalist ethic was at the heart of the programme enacted by the post-war Labour Government in the UK, which included the foundation of the NHS. This was a conscious rejection of the workhouse mentality. Workhouse 'inmates' were outcasts from the community, deprived of the right to vote. Using the NHS was a right of citizenship, and an expression of equality, in a tradition that has its origins as far back as Thomas Paine.

"Universalism is about having a vision of a community of free and flourishing individuals, bound to each other by a common bond. Labour believes in universalism, because there are some areas of life, where we find the best for each of us in promoting the common good.

"Education and health are clear examples. Education taps the potential with which each of us has been endowed. It is a core human need, and it should be available to all as of right. That logic applies with equal rigour from pre-school to university. No-one should set a boundary to the flourishing of mind and spirit that education makes possible.

"That is why Labour has long advocated free pre-school education for every child. That proposal was attacked before the last election by Brian Lenihan, who, as Minister for Children, said that it 'smacked of universalism'. We heartily agree!

"And I make no apology for Labour's commitment to free third level education. Universities do have a vital role in industrial policy, but why should students be taxed to pay for it? If third level education confers a benefit on the individual, which it does, then let them contribute to the cost through a fair system of taxation. Meanwhile, society will benefit through enhanced third level participation.

"Similarly, in health, Labour is committed to a system of universal health insurance that would provide this vital service on a common basis. Indeed, such a system is the only way that we can drive the kind of changes that the health service so desperately needs.

"I am regularly asked why a party of the left should want to give anything to Mrs X, or Mr Y, both identifiably wealthy individuals. In reality, the number of those individuals is small, and collecting money from them through the tax system is a lot more efficient than the cost of means testing. The idea, for example, of means testing every person over 70 to find the 5% who don't qualify for a medical card is ultimately wasteful. It appears that the only place where the Government believes in promoting employment is in the means testing industry.

"In fact, universal provision ensures that those on middle and higher incomes have a stake in maintaining high standards of public services.

Here then is the new battle ground of Irish politics. The workhouse mentality of the New Victorians is reaching further and deeper. The Labour Party will ensure that the values of equality, solidarity and human dignity stand in their way.