There may be some new faces, but they’ll be entering the same old Dáil

THE general election campaign to date has created almost as much noise about who isn’t standing as it has about those who are seeking the endorsement of voters.

The extraordinary number of retirements and enforced political hari-kari is remarkable enough in itself — 33 TDs not standing for re-election at the latest count. The number of those attempting to return who will be rejected by the voters is likely to be very high also. There will be very many new faces in the 31st Dáil, which is a good thing even if some useful experience is being lost. But these new names will include some high-profile commentators and others who might have had much to contribute but who have decided against taking the chance.

To those who are leaving first. Some are going before they are shoved, particularly in the ranks of Fianna Fáil. Others are worn out clearly by what they have overseen in recent years, most especially Fianna Fáil ministers. Some just believe they are too old for the hassle and strain, although these are mainly from the ranks of Fine Gael and Labour, and have opted out despite the possibility of receiving position in a newly formed coalition government.

Many have a financial incentive to do so: for long-serving TDs, especially former and serving ministers, the pension entitlements are extraordinarily generous, can be claimed in advance of the age of 65 and come with a redundancy package too. For a private sector citizen to enjoy a lump sum retirement payment pension of the size that the likes of Brian Cowen, Mary Harney, Dermot Ahern and Noel Dempsey will command and enjoy would require an investment of between €5m and €6m.

Long-serving TDs have contributed little, if anything at all, to their pension funding. A lump sum approaching €300,000 and an annual six figure pension is a mighty incentive to retire early, especially when the rules are being changed to reduce payments and pensions from 2012 onwards.

And what former minister in his right mind would want to hang around Leinster House for the next few years? What would they do? Would they be happy acting as glorified county councillors, running errands for their constituents? While some might have busied themselves in helping Micheál Martin reorganise the Fianna Fail political machine not all would have been given prominent roles in such an effort. It is time for the new blood to come through in that party, as Martin’s election front-bench has emphasised.

Although it would cost the State a lot less to provide the near €100,000 salary to these people (which will now go to someone else) instead of redundancy and pension payments, the ghost of Bertie Ahern rattling occasionally around the place (another who is retiring two and a half years after stepping down as Taoiseach) is evidence that such spirits are unwanted reminders of failures of the past. What would Cowen or Harney do for example from the opposition backbenches, other than attract public odium?

Few people are likely to care much how they spend their retirement years, especially when it is to be so generously cushioned by contributions from the rest of us.

If they take on new employment, as surely people so far from normal retirement age would, then at least the combined income from that and the pensions will all be taxed, and most probably heavily given the high tax rates with which we have been left. It will be interesting to see who hires them though. Ahern got a few international directorships and some speaking gigs but it is hard to imagine that the ministers of a government that landed their country in the hands of the IMF will be regarded as prized catches.

Others are likely to be spending at least some of their forthcoming redundancy cheques in a vain attempt to get back into Dáil Eireann. Some are lucky that they are not going to have face high-profile candidates who might have had a shot at winning election on the basis of their celebrity rather than what they could offer as members of the Dáil.

The proposed Democracy Now group of aligned independents achieved much publicity for its decision not to go ahead with the proposal (although some of those involved had already declared their candidacies and continue, whereas others are also likely to confirm in coming days that they will run). It gave the lie to the old joke that the first item on the agenda of a new political party was a split: this one couldn’t even draw up its agenda before getting round to that.

However, the debacle of its agonised announcement that it would not form a group and that some of its most prominent intended candidates would not run, had one strange and unintended side-effect: it gave credibility to those who at least have the courage to put their names on the ballot papers. While some of those who have not gone forward have disparaged those who are engaged in politics, sweeping generalisations that all politicians are “gobshites”, as one of those involved claimed last week, are quite simply wrong. Anyone who puts themselves forward for election deserves some respect because it involves commitment and the invitation to abuse and ridicule. This doesn’t mean that their performances in their jobs shouldn’t be scrutinised or criticised but such comment should be done fairly.

In this regard I imagine that many politicians must have laughed, albeit some bitterly, at Eamon Dunphy during the week. While he has always been able to dish it out, he finds it hard to be on the receiving end of a few tackles himself. We had another fine example of Dunphy’s contrived passion when he poured forth at academic Elaine Byrne during RTÉ’s 11th hour programme on Monday night.

Byrne described Dunphy and Fintan O’Toole, who was also on the panel with them, as middle-aged and received a full blast of Dunphy’s ire as he ludicrously attempted to portray her as some sort of female equivalent to the former Sky football presenter Andy Gray. To deliberately misquote the comments of Richard Keyes, Gray’s fellow sacked mate, that got him sacked: “Eamon, give us a break luvvie”. If he is so thin skinned as to exaggerate the import and insult of a mild criticism, how would he have coped with political life?

I can understand though why many of those who decided against involvement in Democracy Now did so, albeit reluctantly. For example, I’m sorry that Fintan O’Toole did not offer himself because he is a fine, passionate and principled polemist who would have added enormously to the intellectual calibre of the Dáil debates. But I fear that the Dáil would have neutered and frustrated him enormously because it is unlikely that he would have ended up in a position where he could have had any real influence. And this remains one of our big problems. The structure of the Dáil and the eventual composition of the government remains far from what is needed. We have too many politicians who are engaged in council and social work. We need expertise that can be applied to the introduction of laws, the creation of policies and the oversight of administration. Many likely candidates for the Dáil, particularly those who would have to give up good jobs, are entitled to ask what is the point in going into a Dáil that isn’t being changed and reformed?

The Last Word with Matt Cooper is broadcast on 100-102 Today FM, Monday to Friday, 4.30pm to 7pm.