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.