Saying no is not Simon Harris’s favourite part of the job |
If Fianna Fáil TDs think things are difficult now, they should brace themselves for what might be coming their way.
It was a week of spectacular windiness across Government. Faced with unprecedented protests, the Coalition scrambled to its default manoeuvre – trying to spend its way out of difficulty. On Sunday, Micheál Martin and Simon Harris announced a half-billion euro giveaway, on top of the existing package of €250 million. This will get us – maybe – to the end of July. Can you see the Government putting up the price of fuel then? Can you see the Government putting up carbon taxes in the budget? Or at the end of the year? Me neither. The Coalition has just made a multibillion euro decision, completely on the hoof.
Following that announcement, the Dáil saw the usual exhibition of roaring and shouting. Meanwhile, out in the big bad world, the US began blockading the Strait of Hormuz. The International Monetary Fund warned the global outlook had “abruptly darkened”. The conflict could still cause a global “energy crisis on an unprecedented scale”, it said. Analysts spoke about potential fuel shortages.
With the warning lights flashing red you might think the Government would be preparing for leaner economic times. If so, there is little sign of it. I hear lots of worried chat on the topic from politicians and officials. But not much action.
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This is all to be paid for, the Taoiseach and Tánaiste said, not by holding back on spending increases elsewhere, but by dipping into the surplus. There’s a €5 billion surplus budgeted for. It’s not mid-April and a fifth of that has been burned through. Meanwhile, the Department of Education is on course for a €600 million overspend in its €13.5 billion budget. The public sector unions are preparing for the next round of pay claims. This will be a difficult and protracted process that will conclude with a pay increase for public servants that costs the exchequer further billions; the last one cost €3.6 billion.
Amid all this, Harris was promising tax cuts in the budget.
The role of the Minister for Finance in Government has been traditionally understood to require him to say no to people all the time. This does not seem to be Harris’s favourite part of the job.
[ Why learning to say no is the best skill you’ll ever learnOpens in new window ]
The principal complaint of the Opposition in the Dáil this week is that the Government did not give the protesters more of what they wanted, and give it quicker. It is of a piece with a political debate that only demands more spending, and which penalises prudence.
In this political culture, it falls to the Government parties to take the public heat and hold the line on budgetary prudence. Like it or not, that’s the job. But there’s a very real question about whether they have either the will or capacity to do this.
It is certainly true that part of the Government’s job is to listen to people, to understand where there is genuine hardship and to act – where it can and within its available resources – to alleviate the plight of those in miserable situations. But it is also an important part of the Government’s job to maintain stable public finances, to be responsible, to protect the common good. And to be straight with people about the situation the country is in, and the situation into which it may be moving.
It is not the Government’s job to respond to every demand from every quarter. Sometimes it is the Government’s job to lead, to be strong, to do things that are not necessarily immediately popular but are right for the long-term interest of the country. It would be great if there was some sign that our leaders understood this.
Two others things may reasonably be said at this stage.
One is that the tendency within Fianna Fáil to make every difficulty – for the country or the party – about their own complicated relationship with their leader remains undiminished. This is undoubtedly entertaining for people such as me, but I’m not sure of the wider public appetite for it.
Some backbenchers seem to have internalised their opponents’ criticisms of the Government response to the fuel crisis and wanted Martin to back down bigger and quicker. If there is a coherent political strategy behind this, I fail to see it. There might be a viable political future for FF/FG as responsible economic managers. There certainly isn’t one in imitating the Opposition in pandering to every demand.
Secondly, the fuel protests pose questions for the Opposition parties too. They were conducted by “the finest people”, said Richard O’Donoghue of Independent Ireland, gamely angling to ride the populist wave.
Without a doubt, some of them were. Some of them were certainly not. The character of many protesters was exemplary. Others were appalling. I watched a few of the hundreds of video clips posted online of interactions between protesters and gardaí, so you don’t have to. Here is a taste of one of them, when a protester confronted gardaí in Cork: “Ye betrayed the Irish people. Ye betrayed this sacred land. That our forefathers fought. And you can smile. Go home with your f**king money. Ye should be ashamed of yourselves. At least my grandchildren will say, ‘He tried for Ireland’. Michael Collins, if he was here, he’d have a machine gun on ye c**ts ... Ye’re no longer Irish citizens, no longer Irish citizens ... Cowardly f**king traitors.”
The decent people, the “finest people”, who protested last week have a choice to make next time they’re on the streets. Do they stand for this or not? So, too, do the politicians who spent much of this week praising them.