Controversies over recent political fund raising events have caused damage to the Labour Party and to the Government and have prompted concern within the general public. Minister of State, Ms Fitzgerald was induced to cancel a £100 a ticket lunch at which guests were offered "a rare opportunity to gain access to the Minister for Finance, Mr Quinn" in advance of the Finance Bill. She subsequently apologised for the semi official nature of the invitation and its ambiguous wording. Within weeks, the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Mr Higgins, was tendering his apologies to the Dail for involving the chairman of the IRTC, Mr Niall Stokes, in his own constituency fund raising activities. At no stage were resignations tendered by the Ministers involved and, only belatedly, did they admit to mistakes.
In that context, the decision by the executive committee of the Labour Party to draft a formal set of procedures to cover future financial and fund raising events, is to be welcomed. The action reflects an awareness of the damage that has been done to the party's political credibility.
The document is due to be ratified next Wednesday. From then on, proper rules and procedures will check any untoward enterprise by individuals where fund raising activities are concerned. Head office will be directly involved in monitoring such, exercises. If rules are, breached, the question of resignation will automatically arise.
At no time during the various Dail debates on Labour's fund raising exercises did the opposition parties suggest that the activities complained of amounted to corrupt or dishonest practices. But, quoting the kind of standards required of others by the Labour Party in the past, they argued that the two Ministers and Mr Stokes had been so compromised by their actions that they should resign. It was a course of action rejected by the Tanaiste and party leader, Mr Spring, and by the individuals concerned.
During the week, Mr Spring opened an internal debate on the values of the party with particular reference to recent difficulties. Labour, he insisted, was still a party of change. It was committed to the implementation of critically important policies and values, and mistakes and criticisms went with the territory. Part of the process of reform identified by Mr Spring involved creating the structures, and the accountability, to learn from their mistakes.
Within the next two weeks, the party leader is expected to recommend a series of reforms to his parliamentary colleagues. They will be designed to improve the public image of the party, enhance internal communications and outline long term strategy. On the basis of the party's showing in all seven by elections since it swept into government in the 1992 general election, the Labour Party has a mountain to climb in order to retain its present level of Dail support.
Public dissatisfaction with the party has more to do with perception than with performance. Its Ministers have been above average achievers in both this Government and in the previous one. The economy is booming. The number of new jobs being created has never been equalled. And most of its TDs are working hard. But a fierce hunger for power, displays of gauche and unacceptable behaviour, and a degree of arrogance has soured public opinion. The Labour Party has little more than a year in which to address those character flaws before the electorate passes judgment.