THIS was a tough week for anyone on the Government benches. The shock: defeat on the Dublin Light Rail Bill will not be repeated in the lifetime of this Dail. It will be a case of once bitten, very much twice shy.
The downside is that between now and the summer recess Government Ministers and backbenchers will be glued to their Leinster House seats, particularly: Dr Bbamjee and company.
Drapier thought it somewhat unfair to Dr Moosajee in that he wasn't the only one who missed out two nights in a row. The spotlight, for some reason, seems to be on him and not on the others. It might have something to do with the fact that he is not a "conventional politician", in that he makes no bones of the fact that he does not encourage "clinics" and is extremely frank about his two jobs.
Reference to Dr Bhamjee's difficulty making votes reminds Drapier of the "double-jobbing" accusations being levelled against him. Some of the media had made Dr Bhamjee something of a celebrity, particularly with regard to his opinions on women's breasts and men wearing pyjamas in bed.
However, they were quick to turn on him this week when it became obvious he was having difficulty coming to terms with the perennial problem confronting a TD: how to provide a safety net in the event of losing an election.
Figures show that in the last couple of elections there has been a huge turnover of deputies, many coming in at one election and going out the next, never to return. In the intervening period their "normal job" suffers (unless of course, they are employed by the State). Many deputies have tried to do the two but have failed.
Deputies brought much derision upon themselves by looking for an extra £10,000 a year, but Drapier firmly believes that if the people are to get totally full-time Dail representatives, the State must pay them properly and must ensure the necessary cover in the event of their losing their seat.
Drapier would suggest that an extra £10,000 per year per deputy would be a small price to pay in this respect. We are all punch-drunk with recent revelations as to the alleged high living of some of the high rollers in the state companies. At the end of the day it's like anything in life: you get what you pay for.
WHILE it was made out that Labour members were primarily at fault for the vote loss last week Drapier hears they are particularly incensed by the damage- limitation exercise carried out by the Fine Gael element of the Government in respect of the vote.
There were, in fact, eight Government deputies missing, five labour and three Fine Gael. Excuses were made for two of the Fine Gaelers but not for any of the Labour deputies.
If everyone were present and voting the Government should always have a clear majority. However, the Opposition has carried out some memorable ambushes. The Government climbdown over its opposition to the calling of the Dublin and Donegal by-elections was a case in point when Fianna Fail threatened to withdraw all pairs, knowing full well that the Government Ministers were already in the four corners of the world.
While the defeat on the vote on the Light Rail Bill may be put down to the fact that Government deputies were lax in their attendance, the fact is nearly all of the Opposition were present, and Drapier thinks that was no fluke.
Even the very next evening, when there is normally only one vote at 8.30 p.m., (after which deputies literally run off home) the Opposition called a surprise second vote. There was much mirth in the chamber when the word spread around that Bhamjee, Kemmy and Bree were last seen getting into a taxi making off down Molesworth Street, thereby missing the second vote.
The Government this week made no mistakes when it introduced the Dublin Light Rail Mark Two Bill. Despite the Opposition's protestations they pushed it through. While Mr Lowry and company may say all is fair in love and politics, Drapier has an uneasy feeling about this type of move.
The Government and the Houses of the Oireachtas are supposed to be two separate and distinct arms of the State, and yet what the Government did on this Bill proves (if we didn't know it already) that the Dail is merely a "rubber-stamping" chamber for decisions of the Government of the day.
The Seanad at the moment is somewhat different, mainly due to a quirk of fate whereby the numbers are extremely tight. The Luas Light Rail Bill could have a bumpy ride there. Maybe the promised All-Party Committee reviewing the Constitution could look at this lack of autonomy.
The "debate" on Tuesday regarding the Luas Bill was a total fiasco, caused on the one hand by the Government's insistence on pushing it through and also the Opposition's disruptive tactics by calling votes and quorums at the drop of a hat.
ALL in all, the episode, tied in with the Government's defeat the previous week, reflects in Drapier's opinion very badly on us all. Despite his "gung-ho' attitude, Mr Lowry seems to bring trouble down on himself on even the most innocuous issue.
John Bruton, who always has made himself out to be the great Dail reformer, has shown by the way in which his Government has behaved on this Bill that it is as bad as, if not worse than, any previous government. Drapier thinks that very few of the previous Taoisigh would have allowed their governments to behave in the way that Bruton and Co did over the Dublin Light Rail Bill.
Mary Harney put her finger on it when she said that the Government was, in effect, ignoring the will of the people as expressed by the Dail on this Bill. Mr Lowry may think that this was a victory, but Drapier warns him. It could come back to haunt him and his Government.
If Dubliners think the present roadworks are bad, Drapier assures them they are mild in comparison with the mayhem which will descend on the capital when the Light Rail is being constructed.
The doom and gloom over what is left of the peace process was widespread around the House. The hardening of the attitudes among most deputies doesn't augur well. Drapier thinks we are reverting to the politics of the last atrocity. As the week dragged on it became obvious that the general view was that a total cutting off of contact with Sinn Fein would be detrimental.
It seemed as if there is a battle between the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Foreign Affairs on this one, with indications that officials in each Department are of different views.
People's emotions in here are on such a knife-edge that one more incident would end all possibility of"supping" with Sinn Fein.