No major shift in policy for the new Minister but a major change of style

Brian Cowen is attempting to change the perception that this is an uncaring, promise-breaking Government, writes Mark Brennock…

Brian Cowen is attempting to change the perception that this is an uncaring, promise-breaking Government, writes Mark Brennock, Chief Political Correspondent.

Socialism it ain't. There is no political change of direction or "lurch to the left". Funding for increased frontline staff in health, education and the Garda is scarce and Brian Cowen yesterday echoed his predecessor's passionate commitment to low taxes.

But yesterday's Estimates show a concerted Government attempt to address the two factors that have done it the most damage since the 2002 election: the belief that it broke pre-election commitments and the belief that it is uncaring in relation to the less well off.

First, the undelivered promises.

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In 2002 the Government promised 200,000 extra medical cards, but two years on there are 100,000 fewer. Yesterday it provided funding for 30,000 full new medical cards and a further 200,000 partial medical cards entitling the holders to free GP service.

The famous 2,000 extra gardaí promised in 2002 have not materialised, but yesterday the Government insisted there was funding for 700 of these next year. Mind you, it was hard to see it in a total Garda salary bill increasing by just 5 per cent.

After years of being hammered for failing to deliver on the disability issue, there was significant extra provision for disability services in a number of departments yesterday, with a further major disability package to come in the Budget in two weeks time.

The Government also moved to end the relentless attacks on it from Labour for cutting funding to schemes designed to help disadvantaged people and areas. The RAPID scheme, which channels investment in education, health and housing to 45 of the most disadvantaged areas of the State, gets a 26 per cent increase.

There is a substantial increase too for Community Employment Schemes, allowing the retention of 25,000 community work jobs for the long-term unemployed.

Money to run secondary schools is up 39 per cent. There is a 25 per cent increase to pay for more special needs assistants in primary schools, 35 per cent for primary school libraries. The universities and institutes of technology are unhappy at their 6-7 per cent increases, but there is a 35 per cent increase for research and development activities in third-level institutions.

In health, there is €70 million more for accident and emergency services, 300 extra hospital beds and, of course, the new full and partial medical cards.

There will be more.

The public capital programme will come with the Budget. It will reveal how much is to be spent on school building to rectify the damage done by the State wide broken promises to build new school buildings and extensions in 2002.

It will show whether there is significant money to deal with the capacity problems in hospitals. It may also show how the Government plans to deal with the disinterest of the private sector in getting involved in the Public-Private Partnership mechanism for developing infrastructure which has been all the rage among policy theorists in recent years.

Brian Cowen's first set of Budget Estimates shows a commitment to tackling a number of politically sensitive issues, but there are politically unpopular elements - and omissions - too. There is no provision for significant increases in the numbers of nurses, doctors, teachers - or indeed gardaí - which would have to be part of a transformation of public services.

The senior official accompanying Mr Cowen at his press conference yesterday said the average number of gardaí employed next year will be 13,500, compared to 12,800 this year, although as already noted, it is difficult to see how these will be paid when the total Garda pay bill is rising by just 5 per cent. Fine Gael's Richard Bruton claimed there would be precisely 92 extra gardaí on the streets in 2005.

Education and health staff will increase very modestly, education staff going up from 80,000 to 81,000 next year and health staff from 97,000 to 98,000.

With these increases, however, total public service numbers will increase by 2,000, although some years ago Mr McCreevy made a commitment to reducing numbers by 5,000. Mr Cowen yesterday insisted unconvincingly that this target remained in place.

Another solemn target that remains in place is that of increasing Ireland's Overseas Development Aid contribution to 0.7 per cent of GNP. This target, however, is becoming as serious as the aim of draining the Shannon was to politicians of a couple of generations ago. It is questionable whether it will ever happen.

An interim target has now been set of reaching 0.5 per cent of GNP by 2007. Mr Cowen pointed out yesterday that this would put Ireland joint seventh of 22 of the world's richest countries, but development agencies had a point yesterday in asking just how rich Ireland had to become before it would meet the target.

Together with the eye-catching moves to improve access to health services, there were extra charges too. Mr Cowen yesterday defended, on grounds of equity, the decision to increase the cost to health insurers of private hospital beds. This is likely to push up VHI and BUPA premiums, but the Minister said it was right that public hospitals should seek to recover the economic cost of private beds enjoyed by private patients, who can skip queues for all sorts of hospital procedures.

The extra €10 on the cost of visiting accident and emergency units is being justified on the grounds that it will further encourage people to visit their GPs instead of clogging up hospitals. Perhaps the greatest hardship for the less well off is the increase in the monthly threshold of the drugs refund scheme. Those with the new "doctor only" medical cards will have to pay up to €88 per month for prescription drugs arising from their free GP visits.

So there is no major policy shift, but Mr Cowen's presentation yesterday involved a major change of style. Gone was Mr McCreevy's individual and contrarian style. There were none of the McCreevy gags and good-natured jeers at pinkos and politically correct journalists who dared to question his approach. Mr Cowen was so low key as to be positively dull.

Mr Cowen was also careful to distance himself from the smart-alec argument that extra spending on health has made the service worse.

He said health was "not simply a resource issue" but drew attention to the major improvements in the quality of medical care and the quantity of patients dealt with each year as a result of the extra spending. Ms Harney, a past adherent of the "black hole" theory of health spending, was also happy to take her 9 per cent increase without questioning its value.

Mr Cowen seemed pleased when it was put to him at his press conference that the overall increase in public spending for 2005 is relatively modest, considering the extra resources he has available to him.

"Hopefully this critique is dispelling the notion that I am trying to buy the next election," he said.

In the first of two or possibly three Books of Estimates, he has certainly shown no sign of doing so. But in targeting resources on neutralising some of the most strident criticisms of the Coalition, he has shown he is keen to win it all the same.