LAST UPDATE | 22 Nov
WHEN POLITICAL PARTIES release their election manifestos, there’s bound to be one or two elements that cause us to roll our eyes. But this week, there was one offering in particular that just stuck in my craw.
At a time of increasing deprivation and child poverty, I found myself seriously questioning who is advising Simon Harris, and Fine Gael, in terms of their policy decisions. In their manifesto, admittedly amid some fine ideas, we also had the unveiling of the ‘Acorn’ project, which stopped me in my tracks.
The Acorn project promises to deposit €1,000 into a bank account set up for every child born in the state. The account will be in the child’s name, and as a mark of their consideration for the poor unfortunate children from disadvantaged backgrounds, they will allocate an extra €500 to these children. So every child born in Ireland will get a bank account created for them and Fine Gael will deposit €1,000 to most kids, and €1,500 to the poor kids. According to Harris, the aim of this hair-brained scheme is to encourage parents to save for their children’s future.
The Fine Gael Manifesto highlights that if a family were to deposit €2,000 annually into the account, the child would potentially have almost €53,000 by the time they turn 18. Harris himself said that Acorn “fosters a culture of saving and financial literacy, and it will help get every child off to the best start in life.”
Let’s start with what is good about Acorn — the idea itself isn’t a bad one, wouldn’t we all like to be a bit better at saving, and teach our children the value of saving for the future? However, the idea that we need to be told, or taught, how to save for our children is slightly patronising. What underpins Acorn is the idea that Fine Gael needs to teach us how to be better parents, and how to be financially literate.
Firstly, this is totally unnecessary when it comes to the middle-income bracket. Most people I know in this position are already financially literate, they are already putting away money for their children’s future — even if it is only the child benefit — many are preparing themselves for college fees or the like.
The manifesto comes from a party that prides itself on its financial prudence and on how it pulled us out of austerity, so shouldn’t it be the one to teach us about money? The Acorn promise is especially annoying for me because we are being taught financial literacy by a political party that some may argue isn’t as financially literate as it claims.
For one, Fine Gael has overseen years of growing inequality, and hasn’t it been in charge of the biggest overspend on a national hospital in the history of the world? Are we to take financial guidance from a party that has, with its coalition partners, presided over an economy so heavily reliant on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) that it’s now exceptionally vulnerable to global shocks? One of the parties to oversee the most painful and pervasive housing crises in the history of modern Ireland?
We have the lowest investment in education per person across the OECD — oh, and we spend 100s of thousands of euros on bike sheds when we have thousands of children on waiting lists for psychological assessments. It perturbs me a little to have this government saying they are going to teach me how to manage my money better, when they clearly have not been able to manage MY money better themselves.
Imagine the scenario where a newborn child is born into homeless services or housing insecurity (which is happening right now), and his or her parents have no money to spare — no home, and no capacity to support their child. They may be living in a hotel room — probably buying takeaway food most nights because they have no cooking facilities. But Fine Gael will pop €1,500 into the child’s bank account to encourage the parents to think about the child’s future. A carrot to dangle in front of them, the promise of a bright future they can’t yet see.
How far away from the reality of people’s lives do you have to be, to think that this idea is a good one?
It is estimated that Acorn will cost the state about €78 million a year; would we not be better off spending that money on housing, health or helping children get the security they need to live a full and free life? I was homeless, I lived in the insecurity of homeless services when I was 16 — me and my child — and I still carry the indelible mark of homelessness with me. I never feel fully safe in my home. I always have a low-level worry that I may lose where I live. The 4,561 children currently living in homeless services in Ireland deserve better than token gestures. The 378 families living in hotels and hostels in Dublin for over two years deserve more. They need support now. Not in 18 years.
My final problem with the Acorn project is that potentially it will increase inequality — rather than reduce it. An issue which was also flagged by the Labour leader Ivana Bacik this week. Let’s imagine that Acorn is set up for each child, and the families who can save in it do, and the families who can’t save in it don’t — what do you think is going to happen? We are going to see a widening of the gap between the rich and the poor.
We will see little Fiachra, from Blackrock (no offence to Fiachra from Blackrock) whose mam and dad were already saving for his future, end up with even more when he turns 18 than he already had. While the poor kid growing up in homeless services, whose mam and dad are barely making ends meet, will be left further behind. He won’t be getting a new car at age 18, or a trip inter-railing with his pals.
We already know that 220,000 children in Ireland are currently living in enforced deprivation, how is adding more shame to their families – because of a lack of capacity to save – going to help anyone?
If I were advising Simon Harris, I would tell him that we don’t need shiny new things to impress us, we don’t need one-off payments or Acorn savings schemes. What we need is for your party and your political colleagues to press STOP on political gimmicks and revisit the genuine, heartfelt reasons you went into politics.
We need you to admit the failings of the last few years, we need you to be honest and earnest in your recognition that things have gone wrong, and most importantly we need a commitment to the children of Ireland that you will do more to reduce inequality and ensure that everyone gets the opportunity to shine — and to feel safe.
Dr Katriona O’Sullivan is a Senior Lecturer in the Assisting Living & Learning Institute, Department of Psychology, Maynooth University. Her book, Poor is a stirring argument for the importance of looking out for our kids – on an individual, governmental, and societal level – of giving them hope, practical support and meaningful opportunities.
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