Courtney McGrailIreland urgently needs to decide what kind of country it wants to be, according to the director of Social Justice Ireland. “If we don’t plan for an integrated future, we’ll get a disintegrated future,” Fr Sean Healy told The Irish Catholic.
“At one level Irish people are aspiring to European levels of service with American levels of taxation,” he said, describing this as “a circle that can’t be squared”.
Arguing that Ireland must consider what levels of services and infrastructure people want, how they can be delivered, how these can be funded, and how a competitive and sustainable economy can be maintained, Fr Healy was speaking following the publication of 2015’s National Social Monitor, which showed a clear need for further investment in such areas as social housing and care for the elderly.
“At this moment, the economy is doing well,” said Fr Healy, “but very few think that everything is hunky-dory. We’re saying there’s been too great a focus on the economy and not enough on social service, infrastructure, and sustainability. “