Democratic deficit - An election has become unavoidable

NO matter how authoritative Taoiseach Brian Cowen, his cabinet colleagues, or the few Fianna Fáil backbenchers still brave enough to face a microphone try to sound, they have absolutely no mandate to commit to a four-year austerity programme to try to clean up the mess they did so much to create.

No matter how armour-plated they seem in the face of a mounting determination by everyone facing a painful change in living standards to have a say – no more than a vote – in how we rebuild this country, they are over-reaching to the point of being dishonest and anti-democratic. Like a defeated army tying to negotiate a truce they make assumptions they are no longer entitled to make, much less impose. There is an unhealthy, disdainful arrogance too, a demonstration of the core belief that they, despite everything, remain the party of permanent power.

Proposals for a four-year rescue plan are expected in Brussels almost immediately as EU patience with prevarication and a reluctance to take real hard decisions has worn thin to the point that our corporation tax rates are in the firing line once again. Weekend assurances from Minister Mary Hanafin that Europe cannot force the Government to raise the levy did little to assuage those fears. That she confirmed that this facility attracted significant investment and supported 190,000 jobs, putting the importance of the issue in context.