Stakeholder

Picture the scene if you can. Finance Minister Nigel Dodds takes to his feet in the Assembly, or addresses an audience of community activities or business leaders and says something like, “We know that times are tough, and that rates increases are not popular and we know that people do not like paying water charges. But if we want to deliver on all of our spending commitments, if we want to continue to invest in schools, colleges and hospitals, we have to raise more money. So while these decisions are not popular in the short term we are introducing water charges on a phased basis and we will seek to meet our budgetary deficit through an increase in the regional rates.”

This isn’t going to happen anytime soon and to be fair to our local Ministers it is not only in the Assembly that politicians do not willfully embrace difficult choices or seek to impose measures which will prove unpopular in the short term. I think that it is unfortunate because among the general public while there is distaste for financial excess and for wasting of public funds, I believe that there is also a maturity that difficult decisions taken now can pay off in the longer term.

For reasons which were initially professional in nature I follow with some interest the political career of Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Ed Rendell. Rendell was heavily involved in negotiations which brought NI’s own Almac to his state, where they will base their US headquarters. Almac will invest $100m on the back of $12m incentives hammered out by Rendell and his team. Like our own Executive Rendell has put the economy right at the centre of his development strategy for Pennsylvania. Last week he stood up in front of a business audience and announced that as a result of the global recession the state legislature had to make up a budget deficit of $3.2billion. Rendell said, “I will not make decisions that hurt us in the long run, just to avoid difficult decisions in the short run.” And then on top of the necessary cuts in public spending he unveiled a tax increase of 0.5%, to 3.57% which will apply for a three year period.

Rendell conceded that his decision is not easy and will not be popular, but he was prepared to take the pain. Although Ed Rendell is constitutionally barred from running again for the position of Governor he undoubtedly has eyes set on a bigger prize – he is a man with political ambition. He has calculated that to be seen as being prudent at the risk of short term political fallout is a gamble worth taking.

Are there parallels within the NI Executive? Nigel Dodds we are led to believe is all set to move on from his current position as Minister of Finance and DUP sources indicate that come decision time he will opt for Westminster over Stormont. At the moment no Assembly election is scheduled until 2011 at the latest, so is the time for a bold move on financial management which will pay off in the longer term?

So far all of the parties in the Executive have declared themselves to be opposed to the introduction of water charges. Although the rhetoric has been turned down somewhat they all remain wedded to lofty aspirations around free personal care, free public transport for pensioners, free prescriptions and the lowest rates possible. Our political leaders look to London to provide the necessary ‘peace dividend’ in the form of lower corporation tax and other measures. It is right that they continue to wrangle from Alasdair Darling all that they can but those negotiations should be against a backdrop of some innovative fund raising in our own backyard. Any prospect of an increase in the money coming out of the pocket of the voter sends shivers down the spine of our local politicians. But if we continue to advocate all things to all men (and women), surely someone has to foot the bill?

Last week at the Harbour Commissioners serial entrepreneur Leslie Buckley addressed an audience made up of local business people. In a wide ranging address he set out his views on how the Irish economy, north and south, can begin to work its way out of the recession. Buckley was pivotal in the successful development of Smurfitt, of Digicel and is now on the board of Aer Lingus. He has helped to build successful businesses at home and abroad, so his advice and experience is worth bearing in mind. Buckley told his audience that now is the time to grab market share, whatever sector your business operates in. If this means putting sales people on the ground now, then make the investment.

At Government level surely we need to take a similar approach – invest now to secure a competitive position when the economy turns. Let’s hope that short term electoral considerations do not undermine the confidence to take hard decisions now. As Ed Rendell told his political opponents last week, “I urge the state legislature to put the next generation before the next election.”