Despite its flaws, joint policy document carries weighty proposals

IT was a press release from Fine Gael deputy leader Richard Bruton, about garda numbers in Dublin, which started this week’s rumpus.

However, last week Bruton was also the person primarily responsible for the publication of a joint policy document by Fine Gael and Labour which, by comparison, has received little attention.

This document, entitled “The Buck Stops Here”, was issued in the name of Bruton and the deputy leader of Labour, Liz McManus, and contained some significant proposals for change in the management of our public finances and indeed for restructuring within our civil service.