Soft line with judges shows Fianna Fáil has lost Lemass touch, says Harris

SEANAD REPORT:EOGHAN HARRIS (Ind) criticised the "soft line" taken by the Taoiseach towards the judges in relation to a reduction in their remuneration.

He could not understand how an administration composed mainly of Fianna Fáil members had departed so far from the approach of Seán Lemass, who believed that if public opinion was not with you, you would get nowhere.

“There are moral obligations on them . . . I mean, if judges don’t know that they should take a cut in a period of mass public unemployment, what do they know?”

Joe O’Toole (Ind) said the Government had created a problem by setting out to disguise a tax-increase as a levy. This had created a difficulty for the judiciary and a distraction of a debate had taken place.

Ivana Bacik (Ind) said Ministers had engaged in a diversionary tactic by jumping on the bandwagon to attack judges by claiming that they had refused to make voluntary payments when, in fact, it appeared that some had not yet made them. Minister for Health Mary Harney had joined in the use of this tactic at a time when she should be looking after children in Crumlin hospital.

David Norris (Ind) said he had been entertained by the efforts of the Chief Justice to prod his parsimonious colleagues into shelling out a few bob.

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Rónán Mullen (Ind) said he regarded as bizarre and insensitive a claim by the HSE that the non-availability of abortion in Ireland was somehow responsible for delays affecting some operations at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children. “A civilised society, as we all know, is not built on measuring how much it costs to care for those most in need. It is a society that welcomes everyone in life, particularly the vulnerable and the marginalised.”

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Eugene Regan (FG) stressed the need for those in favour of the Lisbon Treaty to ensure that they did not lose the initiative. Acceptance of the treaty was a prerequisite for getting the economy right.

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Crumlin children’s hospital was falling behind best international norms for the treatment of children, Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael) said. For example, a child with scoliosis could end up enduring a 20 per cent deterioration compared with the position in other countries before having the necessary surgery. This applied right across the specialties.