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Dont Fear the Reaper, Cowen to Cull Junior Ministers – Breaking Rumours in the Comments
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Update: The full list is available now from Taoiseach.gov.ie – 7 gone two in place for fifteen junior ministers.You might be interested in the speech that got McGuinness the sack.
Interestingly there is now no junior minister for drug strategy despite their merging of the drug and alcohol strategy recently. Dept of Enterprise retains three juniors tho…hmm.
As the await their €53,000 redundancy package – and the inevitable public pressure not to take the payment – Junior Ministers are sitting by their phones awaiting a call from Cowen.
The speculation has been utterly unremarkable. Cowen has said nothing about his plan – to his credit, the first bit of decent media management in ages – and the suspense is building. We hope to know any time from 12.30-15.00 with Cowen due to take leader’s questions at 14.30 the likelihood is rumours will abound with confirmation before the questions start.
In an emerging sore spot between the cleaner than green parts of the coalition and their more traditional FF partners, should they hand back the redundancy (and the increments to boot)?
Why are they getting redundancy? Did they not Resign?
The Job of Junior Minister is arguably a promotion from being a regular TD therefore they are being demoted back to TDs so the redundancy payment shouldn’t apply?
Do Ministers who lose out when a cabinet is reshuffled get redundany payments too?
It’s more like the Sky money for being relegated from the Premiership into the Championship, it’s more a parachute to ease the landing. So the soft landing has been a reality for some people at least!
Rumour that John McGuinness is one of those gone. Might Mary White get a gig instead?
Noel Ahern, Seán Power and Máire Hoctor also on the way out allegedly
with Aine Brady and Margaret Conlon on the up. Dara Calleary might be in too.
It’s a terrible pity that this is most likely the only reshuffle we will see between now and the election. A few junior ministers moved around the table. Meanwhile Harney can continue to exercise her homocidal reign of terror across the health service while the likes of O’Cuiv and O’Dea twiddle their thumbs in make believe departments.
It looks like it will be down to us to make real change in 3 years time. What’s the record for number of sitting ministers to lose their seats in a single election?
According to Harry the goners are:
Noel Ahern (Dublin North West); Sean Power (Kildare South); Maire Hoctor (Tipperary North); Mary Wallace (Meath East); Michael Kitt (Galway East); Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim) and John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny).
The Kitt family seat goes to Aine Brady and Dara Calleary also tipped for promotion
The framework in which the juniors are linked to multiple ministries looks very strange. What links Sean Haughey’s special responsibilities of Life-Long Learning and School Transport?
the logic for most of them, contrary to what the taoiseach says, is give em jobs. I think the more departments you have the less powerful you are unless you have a defined role like the minister for children. Even then you dont have a budget. Getting rid of the drugs minister seems an odd choice while retaining three ministers at Enterprise, two of whom are surplus to necessity.
What a hack-handed farce.
Bertie Ahern, as always, created the extra Junior Ministries, no doubt, to divide and rule, as well as conferring gifts on his loyal cronies.
It should not take the current recession/depression/slump to realise that there should be NO Junior ministries; that there should be No Ministries for such detailed activities as Sport; Equality;Children;Transport;Health and Education – to mention but a few.
Ireland is a tiny island with less than 5 million of a population.
If one top slices the old and infirm; children under 19 and the mass of the population that refuse to work & scrounge on the generous Welfare that Ahern & the Trade Unions have “negotiated” as the “rights” (as in Sean Healy’s Poverty Party Manifesto)of these people, those who provide the motor for Ireland Inc. are, numerically, very few.
Accordingly, they should be represented by very few.
Like 1 TD per 100,000 of adult population – viz a Dail of 35-40 persons.
This would permit Government to vacate Leinster House – which could be adapted as a Conference Centre/Theatre and Cultural Centre of excellence – all of which would attract tourists and yield a healthy income to cover the cost of maintaining this vast property, which, in its present clothes, is a White Elephant.
To get Ireland Inc. really motoring, it needs a small number of dedicated, highly motivated professionals at the helm.
A Cabinet of well-structured portfolios, with appropriate powers to take action and lead the country back to prosperity.
Those Portfolios are obvious by the very nature of the structure of this small open economy and its Resources, both Human and Natural.
The further management of the outfall from the utilisation of these Resources suggests the remainder of the Management Team.
The details, such as the health and education of the Human Resources are a matter for senior Civil Servants, not Cabinet Ministers.
Natural Resources: Human Resources: Communications: Finance: Justice (including Defence) with, perhaps a rotating floater, acting as Chair and assuming a Ministry Without Portfolio, such as Foreign Affairs.
The savings might not be €8 billion today, but would save a lot more in terms of removing unnecessary waste and overlap – and getting action – fast.
Of course, an Opposition that recommends the reduction in Junior ministries by a puny 7 persons, will never vote for proper reform.
As a consequence, Ireland Inc. will continue to sink into the ooze of dynastic sleaze; incompetence and farce.