I CANNOT see that the Taoiseach has any choice, on his return from Tokyo, but to fire at least half of his Ministers of State, writes John Waters
Since some newspaper reports suggest that more than half of these Ministers now regard themselves as superfluous to requirements, the Taoiseach must either come out with his hands up or act now to replace those who have proposed their own abolition with people who regard the positions as important and are prepared to do some work. Anything short of such a definitive gesture will leave Cowen’s administration open to continuing charges that it has been wasting public money. For what Martin Mansergh, Seán Power, Conor Lenihan and others have said, in effect, is that they do not consider themselves fully occupied in the posts they hold.
The Taoiseach has a clear choice: accept the contention that, without consequences for the administration of government, the number of Ministers of State could be reduced from the present 20, fire half of them and leave the posts vacant; or repudiate the extraordinary implications of this controversy and fire those Ministers who, by their own suggestion, have been swinging the lead. For the Taoiseach to adopt the former course would be to concede a case long made in the media: that junior ministries are no more than baubles dispensed in a culture of Mercs-and-perks, an implication that, one way or another, he urgently needs to accept or repudiate.
It is clear, therefore, that if he is to rebut the insinuation that junior ministries are not real jobs, the Taoiseach’s only option is to sack all those who have risen to the media bait this week and fill their places with ambitious backbenchers who are prepared to roll up their sleeves on behalf of the country at this difficult time.
Reports from Tokyo indicate that the Taoiseach has been “irritated” by the controversy, which began with a call from Green Party chairman Senator Dan Boyle for a cull of junior ministries, and was rather naively taken up by Minister of State at the Department of Finance Martin Mansergh on a late-night chat show. “Irritated”, I would say, was something of a euphemism to describe the Taoiseach’s reaction. Boyle’s initiative was a mischievous piece of populism, guaranteed to gain favour in the media, which have seen politicians’ incomes and expenses as a reliable instrument of warfare against the political class. The capitulation of a succession of Ministers of State cornered on the questions suggests, perhaps, a mixture of emotions: guilt, self-hatred and a desire to have the chalice of responsibility lifted from their lips.
Mansergh said on Tuesday that he would be willing to place his office “at the disposition of the Taoiseach”. Minister of State for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Seán Power more or less gave the game away when he said, a little too enthusiastically, that he would “be more than happy” to stand down, if asked. Power said any politician who was asked if the workload of Ministers of State could be handled by a smaller number would have to answer “yes”. But it is strange that he and others are saying this only now, when the going has become a little rough. Most of those who now admit they are underemployed have held junior ministerial office for several years.
If they had doubts about their purpose in life, why wait until things started going badly? “We’re asking the Irish people to make major sacrifices and I think as a Government it’s vital that we’re not asking Irish people to do something that we’re not prepared to do ourselves,” said Seán Power, ostensibly answering this question. It does not appear to have occurred to Power that in this sentence he was in effect admitting that his job in charge of “the information society” is no more than a makey-uppy position, and that neither he nor the position would be missed. And there was me thinking Ministers of State were supposed to be selfless servants of the people, whose unstinting efforts are nowhere near compensated for by the modest stipends they receive.
The idea that junior ministries are doss jobs, dispensed to loyal henchmen, is not a message the Taoiseach will want to convey at this moment of difficulty. For, if he concedes on this issue, he will be opening up the possibility that countless other political functions and benefits represent unnecessary waste and might well be dispensed with as well. Do we need a Tánaiste, for example? Why can’t the Cabinet use taxis or public transport? Why does the Taoiseach have to go to Tokyo? And, other than for the purposes of defusing domestic crises instigated by idle Ministers of State, does he really need a spokesman while he is there? Speaking from Tokyo, the Taoiseach’s spokesman said Cowen had “observed that every Minister had a job of work to do and that the workload was increasing all the time, especially in light of the current economic situation”. I would be surprised if the Taoiseach put it in precisely those terms.