Giuliani shows how zero tolerance can co-exist with right to choose

THE right to choose is a slogan synonymous with another issue, but it’s one which Minister for Health Mícheál Martin will be hearing a lot of between now and the New Year before his unilateral smoking ban is introduced.

Instead of going to New York to find out for himself the effects of the smoking ban there, he could have saved himself the trouble, and the taxpayers a lot of money, had he awaited the arrival here of the former mayor of New York Mr Rudy Giuliani.

But then, the minister would not have welcomed the simple logic expressed by the refreshingly forthright Mr Giuliani, who knows exactly what are the effects of the ban in New York.

The larger-than-life hero of 9/11 enjoys a good cigar, and has told our Government they've got it wrong.

Quite simply, his message is that people should have the right to choose, rather than enforcing outright bans on smoking in workplaces.

"I think governments should provide the ability for people who want to make a choice to make that choice," he said. "Therefore if some people want the choice of being able to dine in a smoke-free environment, they should be entitled to that."

Quite sensibly, he is in favour of a more lenient law, such as the one imposed in New York in 1994 that prohibited smoking in areas where people were eating but allowed it in certain closed-off areas.

"It limited pretty dramatically the places you could smoke but it left open some places where people who enjoy smoking would be allowed to do it," he added.

The Government here was quite happy to embrace Mr Giuliani's zero tolerance policy on crime and the phrase tripped off the tongue of previous Minister for Justice John O'Donoghue like a mantra.

Of course, we didn't realise it at the time, although we do now, that our Government's version of zero tolerance is directed at the population in general.

No more smoking; a draconian attack on our hospitality culture through the drink laws; as few as possible police on the street and in the meantime, waste taxpayers' money in every way possible.

Maybe this time they might take on board the practical advice of a man who knows what he's talking about.

They are unlikely to take the advice on benchmarking of Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny but whether they do or not, he showed that maybe just maybe the opposition is waking up, or at least rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.

Hours after a poll which showed that he was the least popular political leader and that his party was somewhere between a rock and a hard place, he seemed to give the reason on RTÉ radio last weekend which would explain a lot.

The leader of what should be the main opposition party told an interviewer on the national radio station that they did not court popularity. His party did not make statements on issues simply to make political capital and endear themselves to the electorate.

Short of having my ears syringed after they received what I thought was an incredible politically incorrect statement from the leader of the Opposition, it struck me that his strategy actually confirmed the results of the poll.

Logically, it was very simple: if you don't court popularity, then you won't be popular.

Also, it explained why this country does not have a viable alternative to what is undoubtedly one of the most inept and arrogant governments we have had the misfortune to ever have visited upon us. The same poll confirmed that.

But the poll also contained the suicidal prediction that, despite the fact we exist under a depressing, and repressive, regime, Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats would be re-elected next time around. Sweet Jesus have mercy.

Then lo and behold, Fine Gael repaired to Killarney to have an incestuous think-in and, whether it was the unseasonal heat that got to him, the same Mr Kenny came out with another statement which on the face of it would do nothing to improve the popularity ratings.

He said that the country could not afford the annual €1.2 billion bill for benchmarking and that the first tranche of €500 million, due next January, should be withheld. The words were hardly out of his mouth when the fan began to work overtime.

UNIONS representing over 200,000 public servants were outraged. The Labour Party rejected such a notion out of hand and, indeed, its leader Pat Rabbitte went so far as to say that failure to honour the agreement was unthinkable.

But it is not unthinkable. Enda Kenny thinks it's thinkable. And the reason he thinks that way is because we haven't a clue what we are getting in return for the €1.2 billion. And he is right. I can enlighten him in that regard, courtesy of two people I know in the public service who are going to benefit from benchmarking. They gave their opinions on what the country is getting in return for their pay hike. The answer is zilch absolutely nothing. Both of them know that they are going to get hefty wage increases without having to do one stroke extra of work to earn it.

I heard one interviewer since put it to Enda Kenny that by making his suggestion he was not doing Fine Gael any electoral favours by upsetting so many people. On the face of it, the interviewer appeared to have a practical point. Then it dawned on me. The government is not elected by 200,000 public servants.

I won't benefit from benchmarking no more than the vast majority of the electorate will, but we are expected to pay for it.

And what will we get for €1.2 billion every year absolutely nothing.

That's not my opinion, but that of two men, already in well-paid jobs, who know they are in line for a very handy windfall without having to do anything for it.

Another thing that is hardly reassuring for the taxpayers is the extraordinary admission by Minister for Transport, Séamus Brennan, that aspects of the Luas light rail system in Dublin are a mess and a huge mistake.

If they were starting with a clean sheet of paper and knowing today's figures, they would probably opt for a complete city-wide metro and probably do 100% of it underground. He also said that in problem areas he is now looking at putting parts of the railway up on stilts.

The project is already millions of euro over budget and a year behind schedule and the "stilts" addition would add possibly at least another €20 million to the overall bill.

Any chance Rudy Giuliani could be persuaded to take over the running of the country before it reaches rock bottom?