Opposition need to get their hands dirty

Watching ‘Leaders Questions’ every Wednsday can be a chore to even the biggest news-junkie but more often than not those who do manage to sit through the entire thing are rewarded with a few choice quotes and clashes.This week was no different, with Green Party leader Trevor Sergent poking fun at Ahern for his sickeningly bloated make-up bill, however when the highlight of what is supposed to be a chance to hold the Taoiseach to account is a fluffy swipe at the leaders vanity you just know the political system in Ireland is in dire straits.

Getting sly little slaps in at what is a questionable expense on the behalf of Ahern is all well and good when there is little else on the national agenda, however when the justice system stares over the brink of a crisis in regards Irish statuatory rape legislation you would expect people to put their wit to one side and get answers on behalf of their voters.

Enda Kenny took the opportunity yesterday to ask the Government what their plans were in light of the Supreme Court decision on the illegality of the existing legislation, but he then went on to pledge his partys support for any move taken by Fianna Fail and the PD’s to plug the legal hole which has no presented itself. While Mr. Kenny did lightly remind the Government that the Supreme Court decision is not a surprise (you can read the transcript here), he avoided laying any criticism at the hands of the parties for their failure to act in the last 16 years, action which would have ensured we were not in the serious situation we are in now. It was as if he said that this law was always in need of attention, it had to be fixed, but no one should expect you as the Government to do it.

Of course, Kenny would do wrong by the country and his own party if he tried to act as a roadblock to the emergency legislation now needed and he would be smart to ensure that his actions did not reek of political opportunism in the public eye, but in taking such a relaxed approach with the Government of the day he is handing them another free pass to ensure that they are not answerable to their own serious errors.

Let us not brush away the case made by the Green leader, Trevor Sergent was within his rights to make a point of the money being spent on Bertie Ahern’s make-up, just as Bertie Ahern was within his to point out that using RTÉ supplies amounts to the same thing.
We as voters, on the other hand, we’re within our own rights to as why these people are getting paid so much to have a joke with each other and dance around the serious national issues.