Now is the opportunity to finally demand more from our politicians

THE death of the 30th Dáil can allow rebirth of Irish democracy. An unnoticed aspect of Bertie Ahern’s tenure was the irrelevance of policy platforms within parties.

When your party’s core value is to be in government, it requires pragmatism to prevail over all principles. Post-election Dáil arithmetic dictated whether FF coalesced with the PDs on the right, Labour on the left or the Greens to save the universe. Building a consensus with social partners relegated the party politics in policy terms to the dustbin. We now know pure expediency was a road to ruin.

This election restores opportunity for each party to comprehensively set out precisely what it says on their tin. The media can be obsessed with their own part in setting the campaign agenda. Commissioning and publishing opinion polls generates new news for media organs. Last year’s British election seemed to be an endless commentary on polls of polls. Here, formats for TV debates have grabbed the headlines. These marginal events are the dross of politics. The main job of the media is to ensure the electorate obtains a transparent accurate synopsis of the points of difference between the parties in government.

Sound bites and slogans are no substitute for stances. The public appetite for reform goes beyond rhetoric on a poster or billboard. The primary challenge of this election is to procure leadership that will chart the course for a modern Ireland. The heartbeat of this is the institutional reform within Leinster House. The objective must be to ensure that our electoral system ultimately delivers the most capable individuals, with collective cohesion, to fill the cabinet room. If the Seanad is to be abolished this potential, hitherto unutilised, route of ministerial appointment is extinguished. No consensus exists on a new electoral system to parliament. Single seat proportional representation, less TDs or a list system have been vaguely alluded to. The current economic meltdown presents the best opportunity in our history for radical new structures. Alas, turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.

One illusory quick-fix solution was the notion that a star-studded list of high-profile media celebrities could infuse the Dáil benches. David McWilliams, Fintan O’Toole, Eamon Dunphy and Elaine Byrne were mentioned as luminaries to light up the Dáil. “Democracy Now” was an embryonic banner under which 20 TDs could be elected. The expeditious calling of the election resulted in its evaporation. What a relief. This hotch potch collection of individuals, while deserving individual respect, were a disaster waiting to happen. Apparently, their lowest common denominator issue was a referendum on the IMF/EU bailout. Fair enough. However, a free vote of conscience on other issues was a recipe for chaos. From one week to the next, Government chief whip would be clueless about their support for legalisation of abortion, introduction of third-level fees, location of an incinerator or banning blood sports. They would make the Greens look like a pillar of stability.

With little prospect of electoral or lasting institutional reform, the next best option is to ensure the permanent government is infused with the best brains. The foremost prerequisite in this regard is to open up Secretary General and Assistant Secretary departmental posts to external competition. A minimum quota of outsiders is required in the senior echelons of the civil service. Specialist qualifications in the areas of economics, public administration, banking, statistics, finance and planning are urgently required. The mono-culture of career civil servants as the exclusive training ground for senior mandarins has failed spectacularly. The intermittent use of consultants and their reports, for expert advice has not worked. Recommendations that don’t conform are buried, while supportive documentation is used as an alibi in the CYA (cover your ass) syndrome.

Fundamental restructuring throughout the public service has been limited to lip service and tokenism. Umpteen initiatives were heralded, only to run into the sand. The Department of Finance has been subsumed by economic and fiscal affairs. This excluded a proper focus on personnel reorganisation and productivity. Benchmarking was a disastrous payoff for social partnership peace. Cost savings to date have focused on linear pay cuts, pension levies and recruitment embargos.

Common sense has been disregarded through outdated inflexibility. The solution? A dedicated senior minister for public service reform with a new separate department. The Croke Park agreement, with a ban on compulsory redundancies, has to be renegotiated. Sadly, no party is seeking a mandate from voters to implement a blueprint of efficiency. Lack of courage amongst our political elite has resulted in another taboo topic. The single greatest expenditure, exceeding €20bn, is under the auspices of the Department of Social Protection. Welfare reform seems to be too hot a potato for truthful debate. This is a gross disservice to the most needy and vulnerable in society. We cannot target greatest need because we perpetrate an unsustainable principle of universal benefits. Child benefit has been reduced in the last two budgets. No attempt was made to introduce a means test or its taxation. Hundreds of millions of euro is paid through free travel, electricity, telephone rental, fuel and TV licence schemes — irrespective of any income assessment or hardship. Elimination of fraud seems to be a movable feast, as each additional budget earmarks up to €60m under this heading. Welfare tourism in border counties and amongst incoming immigrants still exists, while finger printing technology lies idle due to an industrial dispute. No party has backbone to confront these realities. Detailed transparent cost/benefit analysis of infrastructural spending has yet to materialise.

One of Brian Cowen’s last acts as Taoiseach was to endorse continued expenditure of €480m on road development in Northern Ireland. Why are we liable for this bill? Metro development for Dublin has been given the go ahead, irrespective of the fact that the country is in receivership. Disentangling the debris of aborted decentralisation is still awaited. Where stands the unfunded National Children’s Hospital? Meanwhile, sacred cows such as the Overseas Development Aid programme are immune from pleading an inability to pay. The prevailing mood of austerity and financial fear provides the perfect backdrop for the next Minister for Finance to obtain a public imprimatur for cuts. Now is the time for party manifestos to provide cover for U-turns and let’s separate the wheat from the chaff.

Idealism and inspiration are desperately required from our political leaders. Too often, this equates to populist inane empty rhetoric. The next government may secure better bailout terms on March 21 at the EU Council, but cannot be assured of it. Either way, €9bn of financial adjustment awaits. There is no hard evidence that the Irish economy has hit bottom. Employment numbers and property prices may fall further. Loan interest and inflation rates may rise later in the year. Despite these severe challenges, our politicians still don’t trust the people. They continue to conceal post-election truths — minimising future inevitable medicine. Stop sugar coating the pill. However unpalatable, the people are ready to respond.