Grow a Pair or Go

We’re living through the most important times in contemporary Irish history with decision-makers who shirk making decisions.

Since the start of the summer the country has been hit with a slew of reports and scandals, collectively they provided onlookers with a veritable feast of unaccountability and political gutlessness. Each, in their own little way, served to expose a weakness in our Government and wider politcal class, specifically; their on-going failure to grasp the nettle.

In May The Ryan Report into child abuse by members of the clergy brought the disgusted eyes of the world on this country. CORI, an umbrella body representing the unnamed abusers, were bullied by wider society into coughing up a decent few quid to compensate victims. Most politicians chose to remain conspicuously quiet while the country screamed for the clergy to be punished. They remain unpunished. I predict they will remain unpunished collectively after the Dublin Report next week also.

On July 16th The McCarthy Report was published. Though originally billed by Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan as “key to stabilising the public finances” it quickly became an almost forgettable “menu of cuts”, such was the Government’s fear of taking a stand.

On the same day the Leas Cross Report (into sub-standard living conditions in nursing homes) became a shiming example of how our decision-makers fear making decisions. The report, which had been submitted to the Minister for Health Mary Harney six weeks prior, was dumped online under McCarthy’s veil. Minister Harney denied she wanted it “buried” but it was clearly an attempt to avoid media and public scrutiny, and thus, tricky choices.

When the scandal surrounding Ceann Chomhairle John O’Donoghue’s expenses began to gather snow at the end of August his fellow TDs came out to bat for him. Conor Lenihan said he couldn’t comment on the actions of the Ceann Chomhairle because, he claimed, it was position comparable to the president. Despite saying that he noted Mr O’Donoghue was a “modest man”, as if relevant, and clearly untrue. Mary O’Rourke echoed his stance. And many of his Fianna Fáil colleagues. Even Leo Varadkar of Fine Gael said “he shouldn’t resign over a hotel room” because there was worse wastefulness in Government. They all completely missed the point to avoid hitting the target.

Few, bar Fianna Fáil backbencher Mattie McGrath and Fine Gaeler Phil Hogan, put their heads above the parapet of their own volition. The main players made a decision not to make a decision.

In the first week of September the Commission on Taxation published its report. They had been tasked with providing a “revenue neutral blueprint” for restructuring our tax system “for the next ten years at least”, according to Minister Brian Lenihan. However, such was the possibility that the proposals would present the Government with tricky choices that cabinet ministers began undermining the controversial details even before they were published. A property tax, one of the cornerstones of the proposals, was essentially ruled out in the week before print when An Taoiseach told Morning Ireland that the “burden of taxation [in this area] was high enough”.

When the details did reach the public domain they became “ideas possibly to be implemented in the long-term”, i.e punted into the middle distance.

On September 10th The Fás Report detailed highly unusual business practices and disgraceful squandering of taxpayers’ money. Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Mary Coughlan denied she had the option of sacking those responsible. This was untrue, she could quite easily have forced them to step down. The people in charge, the directors, who wasted at least €1million of our cash, remain unshamed. Some stepped down, yes, but the majority remain comfortably positioned.

Since that dates we’ve seen Martin Cullen say at Farmleigh that he will not accept any cuts to the Arts in the forthcoming budget. Dermot Ahern tell us he can save enough in other areas under the remit of Justice to avoid closing rural Garda stations. And Mary Coughlan tell us that “many, many, of McCarthy’s proposals simply don’t make sense”.

But according to John Gormley this Government in in office to make the hard choices. Give me a break. The new Programme for Government is even written in language designed to ensure the Government can avoid making those decision.

In the next few weeks we expect these people to pick the right options for the toughest budget in generations and a €56bn guess on future of the banking system.

How? When they’ve so little practice.