Coalition treading on dangerous ground

WITH a general election due within the next 15 months, admitting failure is a dangerous course for the Government to embark upon.

Yet that is precisely what the coalition has begun doing in recent weeks - whether it realises it or not. Last week in the Dáil, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern conceded the situation in accident and emergency units was unacceptable.

“It is not acceptable to, or accepted by, Government that people, particularly older people, must wait a long time on trolleys before admission,” he said. On Tuesday, Mr Ahern was grilled about another matter - the backlog of 130,000 people awaiting driving tests - and used similar language.

“The driver-testing backlog is totally unacceptable.” The problem is, the Government is responsible for solving both, and is no closer to eliminating either.

Mr Ahern inadvertently conceded the coalition failed on both fronts. And these admissions came just a couple of weeks after Mr Ahern left himself vulnerable following his response to the murder of Donna Cleary, the 22-year-old mother-of-one gunned down at a party.

“A life sentence should mean life,” he said. Labour leader Pat Rabbitte wasted no time in pointing out the Government had the power to ensure this happened. “It is an administrative and political decision for early release. It is not a decision of the bench.”

The Taoiseach, in Mr Rabbitte’s view, was trying to absolve himself of responsibility. Through his own words, Mr Ahern had offered himself as a target for the opposition.

And it’s not just a Fianna Fáil affliction. The Tánaiste did exactly the same, following her admission on Tuesday that the A&E situation now constituted “a national emergency”.

“The Tánaiste is beginning to take on the bewildered bystander persona, so effected by the Taoiseach,” Mr Rabbitte told the Dáil. Ms Harney would unquestionably dispute that, but in conceding the A&E situation was as bad as the Opposition had claimed, she handed them all the ammunition they needed in advance of the election. The question is why? Why, after disputing a crisis existed, would Government admit it to be true? Ms Harney’s admission was not a slip of the tongue, but carefully planned out - a Sunday newspaper was informed in advance of her intention to use the “national emergency” phrase.

Opposition strategists believe it was the Tánaiste’s way to pressure consultants to soften their stance in contract negotiations. The Taoiseach yesterday made pointed references to consultants when he outlined obstacles to resolving the A&E crisis in the Dáil. But Fine Gael’s Jim O’Keeffe raised a worrying question for Government strategists as the election countdown continues. “Who will Government blame when it is facing the electorate?”

Answers on a doorstep near you from next year.