IN DECEMBER 1979, I had the good fortune to travel to south-east Asia to witness at first hand the excellent work Concern volunteers were carrying out in refugee camps along the border of Thailand and Cambodia.
It was all thanks to the generosity of the Irish people.
Since then, volunteers from that organisation, as well as members of various other institutions, have continued to do wonderful work, thanks again to the help and support of the people of this country. Those organisations have built up enviable reputations as being among the best and most caring in the world.
Most of us would agree that it is great to offer help and support to those less fortunate and, yes, it is dreadful to know that children are dying every second of the day because of a lack of food, when we throw out enough to feed thousands on a daily basis.
But let’s face it. Right now, this country has enough problems of its own. We have thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of people, who cannot make ends meet.
I listened to one email being read out on the radio the other day where a family was living on toast and beans.
Some would say that at least they are not going hungry, while millions around the world are. That is true, and sorry if I sound a little cold-hearted, but how about looking after our own first, before we start trying to solve the problems of the world.
There has and will be a lot of talk over the coming weeks about where the government is going to raise extra cash in order to cut the budget deficit.
We hear about a hike in VAT by 2%, a possible reduction of €10 per child in children’s allowance, maybe a drop of €8 in dole payments – all of which has to go towards reducing the €3.8 billion deficit requirement.
Our politicians will tell us that tough choices have to be made.
The money has to be raised and they are adamant that there will be no rise in personal taxation, so the only answer is to cut, cut and cut again.
But if that is the case, I would make the suggestion that all non-essential government spending should be cut.
We saw where a commitment to spend €500 million on a new motorway linking parts of the South with the North had to be cut because we can no longer afford it.
I know this will not be popular and will probably offend some people, but I would suggest that most – if not all of the €700 million-plus, which the government has set aside for overseas aid – should also be cut.
The simple fact of the matter is that we can no longer afford to fund such projects, irrespective of how good or essential they are.
There will always be those who can show the value of such projects but, on the other hand, there are also those who claim that up to 80% of all aid given to Third World countries is lost through corruption. I would prefer to ensure that the needy in Ireland are taken care of first. Wouldn’t you?
I know the Irish have a tradition of giving, even when we haven’t got it to give. Time and time again, we have shown how generous we can be. Take any natural disaster and you will find that within days the money pours in to help the needy.
But over the past three years, very few people have come to the assistance of the 400,000 who have lost their jobs, or the 90,000 mortgage holders who are unable to pay their way.
The current toy appeal on behalf of the St Vincent de Paul Society is an excellent idea and one which should be supported fully.
If nothing else, at least the children of this country will have a great time this Christmas.