The Cabinet has packed its bags for the summer holidays, with Ministers whizzing through a 60-item agenda at the last Cabinet meeting before adjourning for a few weeks. It will be late August before they meet again. In the meantime, Ministers and their officials can enjoy a rare break from the constant demands and pressures of modern politics and the never-ceasing demands of government. Politicians in all parties will look forward to it.
For the Government, the summer holiday comes amid some signs of internal strain. There were obvious differences between Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on priorities for investment in transport infrastructure last week. Varadkar suggested that the limited horizons possible for rail transport in this country – even with massive investment it will still carry only a small minority of travellers and freight – actually demonstrated the need for continued investment in road infrastructure.
He may well be right about this, though it is not unreasonable to question the sensitivity of saying so on the day Ryan was launching a strategy for rail. As Taoiseach, Varadkar needs to be mindful of the needs of his Coalition partners.
Either way, it is evidence of a division which is getting sharper in the Government. One of the natural and inevitable fault-lines of the Coalition runs between the desire of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil TDs and Ministers for new road projects and the determination of the Greens to shift the focus from the private car as a means of transport.
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The compromise worked out by the parties at the Government’s inception was to divide new investment on a 2:1 basis between new public transport infrastructure and new roads. If there is a reason to depart from that now, the Green Party needs to make it and secure the agreement of its partners. Blocking much-needed roads projects – including making existing roads safer – won’t achieve the transformation and decarbonisation of the transport system that is needed. Ultimately this is likely to be solved by a compromise with which everyone can live. But the process of getting to that point may be politically bruising.
It will not be the only difficult political process of the autumn. Although the exchequer is bulging with surpluses, the two budget Ministers Michael McGrath and Paschal Donohoe have set out a relatively tight budget framework. Spending will rise significantly – indeed it will rise at a rate that alarms the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council – but it will not rise at a rate that will satisfy the other Ministers around the Cabinet table.
This week also saw the Coalition under pressure on street crime in Dublin following a vicious attack on an American tourist. Another interest rate rise will squeeze mortgage payers. Ministers should enjoy their break while they can. The problems are already stacking up for their return.