The Tánaiste has invested her considerable political capital in freeing up a number of logjams holding up reform of the insurance sector. The various measures she took ownership of yesterday should start to deliver significant reductions in motor and public liability insurance premiums within 18 months.
The first task facing Ms Harney is to convince her cabinet colleagues to back her. She has promised that within weeks she will bring to Government an action plan that will implement all the recommendations of the Motor Insurance Advisory Board.
One must assume that she is confident that the Government will agree to these measures, which will not be welcomed by a number of powerful vested interests, not least the legal profession. But it is clear that Ms Harney and her advisers believe they have something of a fight on their hands in other quarters.
The way in which the implementation of the MIAB recommendations is to be structured suggests that the Tánaiste does not expect the full co-operation of every party to this venture.
The promised action plan will - when published - identify which agency or body is responsible for implementing the various measures. It will also indicate the impact that each point can be expected to have on premium levels.
It follows that if insurance premiums have not fallen by this time next year, we will have a good idea why, and where the blame lies. This may explain yesterday's volte face by the Law Society. Having - in its own words - been part of the problem for many years it now pledges to be part of the solution.
Hopefully this extends to dropping its objections to the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, one of the key initiatives announced yesterday. The legal profession's objections to this eminently sensible project have been so blatantly self-serving as to verge on the ridiculous .
Taken together, the various measures announced yesterday offer the prospect of some tangible reductions in the insurance premiums paid by businesses and motorists in the medium term. But in the short term, jobs will remain at risk as companies face spiralling bills for liability insurance.
Notwithstanding the transparency built into the MIAB report implementation process, Ms Harney will find it hard to escape the ultimate responsibility for the consequences of failure given the comments she made yesterday. Such commitment is to be applauded.