Kenny and Rabbitte show they can work as a team, writes Stephen Collins, Political Correspondent
With the departure of the Taoiseach and his Ministers to the four corners of the globe for St Patrick's Day, Fine Gael and Labour made a determined effort to seize the political initiative by producing a joint policy document on Government mismanagement yesterday.
This was the third joint policy document produced by the parties and others will be produced at regular intervals between now and the election, in an attempt to convince the voters that there is a genuine alternative government on offer.
The Buck Stops Here, the latest Fine Gael-Labour production, was a lengthy 50-page affair, combining analysis of Government spending mistakes with a clear set of proposals to rectify them. It was designed to show the two main Opposition parties are capable of agreeing on an important policy issue.
Equally important, the chemistry at yesterday's press conference showed two party leaders at ease with each other and their decision to fight the election as a team.
Enda Kenny was asked at one stage how many meetings he had had with Pat Rabbitte since they announced their intention of producing joint policies last June. He replied that they had had about a dozen meetings. Mr Rabbitte intervened to say that since they met at last year's Connacht final they had met frequently; some of their meetings were about business and some were purely social.
What is clear is that the two Mayo men get on well together and, equally importantly, that harmony appears to have filtered down to their party colleagues. Fine Gael deputy leader Richard Bruton began his speech by saying that it had been exhilarating to work with the Labour Party and his opposite number, Liz McManus, on an issue of such importance.
Such a level of trust between Fine Gael and Labour has probably not existed since 1973 when Liam Cosgrave and Brendan Corish fought an election campaign on a joint 14-point plan and put Fianna Fáil out of power for the first time in 16 years. The significant aspect of that election was that the Fianna Fáil vote actually went up and the combined Fine Gael/Labour vote declined. What won the election was that the strong bond between the two Opposition parties resulted in disciplined transfers on polling day.
By coming together well in advance of the election, and by demonstrating so clearly that they can work together, Mr Kenny and Mr Rabbitte have taken the critically important first step towards achieving their goal of getting into office. The first recommendation in their policy programme yesterday emphasised the good relationship by focusing on the central role the taoiseach and the tánaiste would have in setting the priorities for the next government.
By adopting an intelligent political strategy the two men have put themselves in the position of being genuine contenders for power, but actually winning office is going to take a lot of effort and luck. The policy documents are fine as far as they go, but the critical thing will be the joint policy platform they adopt when the election is much closer.
There are no obvious big policy differences between the two. Taxation was a potentially difficult issue but Mr Rabbitte has said unequivocally that he will not be proposing any increase in personal or corporation tax. He was not as emphatic on the question of capital taxation but appears to be moving towards acceptance of the current 20 per cent rate. What he has been stressing is that the very rich should not be allowed to exploit tax loopholes to avoid paying tax altogether.
The Fine Gael finance spokesman, Richard Bruton, has focused on the same issue and while he has a slightly different approach, there is no real obstacle to the two parties agreeing on changes to the tax code to ensure rich people don't get away with paying no tax.
Fine Gael and Labour are waiting until much closer to the election to publish their detailed proposals but they were taunted by Fianna Fáil yesterday for their reluctance. The Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, said it was time for them to practise what they preached on accountability by saying what they would do on important issues if elected to office.
"Fine Gael and Labour refuse point blank to provide any real details on key issues around taxation and spending. The two parties are completely unwilling to provide any indication of what they would do across a whole range of government departments," she said.
Questioned on this point, Enda Kenny said that in the light of the declaration by the Taoiseach that there was not going to be an election this year, they would not be producing their joint policy agenda until much closer to the actual contest.
As well as a joint policy, Fine Gael and Labour will also be producing their own manifestos. Negotiations on a programme for government will not begin until after the election, assuming the two parties win power.