Harney could be undone by $410 bill

BRIAN COWEN could be forgiven for wondering if luck has completely deserted him.

The Taoiseach inherited a crumbling economy, suffered a calamitous defeat in the Lisbon treaty referendum, and oversaw a budget that led to defections from his own party and crippled his government’s authority.

Finally, yesterday, he had some good news to impart: the Government was to set about transforming the public service, improving it for citizens.

The launch at Dublin Castle, the scope of the plan and the subsequent fanfare should have been enough to claim the headlines last night and today.

Instead, Brian Cowen’s grand plan to save billions was overshadowed by a bill from a beauty salon. For $410.

But if his luck is out, what’s to be said for Health Minister Mary Harney? She has long been widely admired in both government and opposition circles for her workload, reforming tendencies, genuine dedication to public service and all-round ability as a politician.

Yet a massively successful career is now in danger of ending on a very low note indeed.

The party she co-founded and led to success is now a busted flush, the Progressive Democrats having voted to wind up earlier this month.

Her tenure as Health Minister has been heavily criticised, with many dubious of Government claims that the health service has improved.

And she has now become caught up in the unseemly expenses controversy at Fás, which has already caused the resignation of the state training agency’s chief executive, Rody Molloy.

On the face of it, a $410 bill is minuscule in the context of an annual Government budget that runs at circa €50bn.

And Ms Harney, via her spokesperson, has pointed to the fact that she is entitled to hair treatments before official engagements. Ms Harney has also pointed out that not all of the $410 was spent on her.

But all those arguments lose some of their validity coming on a day when the Government announced its drive to stamp out excessive and wasteful spending in the public service.

A $410 bill at a beauty and nail salon in West Cocoa Beach, Florida, was part of a larger, systemic problem whereby Fás senior executives claimed lavish expenses — and Ms Harney, it now emerges, was among those who benefited. The involvement of a minister will lead to inevitable conclusions that such lavish expenses are a problem at more state departments and agencies than Fás alone.

At a time when public perceptions of the Government could hardly be lower, it is a terrible image to be sending out.

For years, the public has questioned the pay and expenses that ministers receive. And while the Government has tried to set an example on that front in recent times by taking a 10% pay cut, this latest controversy could completely undermine that effort.

Fine Gael claimed last night that, based on her “abysmal” performance in the Department of Health and her failure to deal openly with the Fás issue, Mary Harney’s position had now become untenable.

Brian Cowen will doubtless disagree. But given all the setbacks of recent times, Ms Harney’s remaining time in government can surely now be measured in months, rather than years.