FG’s reform policy - Just missing some pie in the sky

There are aspects of Fine Gael’s 85-page policy document on public sector reform that will be welcomed, but when it comes to the specifics some of the proposals seem particularly woolly and the title of the overall programme – Reinventing Government – smacks of a sound bite that is hauntingly reminiscent of Fine Gael’s controversial Celtic Snail in November 2000.

Abolishing 145 state bodies and companies and cutting 10% of the money spent on public bodies by confronting waste, duplication and inefficiency sounds appealing. Headline grabbing is easy, but convincing people of the practicality of the proposals is a different matter. Capping public service pay at €200,000 per annum and cutting the size of Government departments sound like practical ideas, especially if the politicians take the lead by introducing ministerial carpooling, abolishing the Seanad, and reducing the size of the Dáil by 20 seats. The proposals also include the abolition of both the HSE and Fás and their replacement “with better, more effective alternatives”.

It seems that all that is missing is some pie in the sky. Too many people will remember the last major reform of the health service, which involved the amalgamation of the health boards into the HSE. It was supposed to eliminate administrative duplication, but all of the jobs were guaranteed, with the result that any savings were minimal and those were more than offset by the extravagance of those running the HSE.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny explained yesterday in an RTÉ interview that his party plans to copy a Dutch model, but he was far from convincing when it came to explaining the specifics. Moreover, although repeatedly pressed, he refused to be specific about whether the jobs of those currently employed by the HSE would be guaranteed.

People bought the HSE pup once; they are not likely to buy another. Mr Kenny appeared to endorse the current redundancy package designed to entice 5,000 employees in the HSE to retire this month. They are being allowed to retire at 50 years of age.

The politics of France are currently in upheaval because the government there is trying to increase the retirement age from 60 to 62, whereas in this country some people seem to be trying to lower it to 50. They are effectively asking the private sector to fund this lunacy and they seem to think that the French and Germans will lead the rest of the EU in helping us out. This betrays a serious disconnection with reality.

If the leaders of Fine Gael really expect people to buy into their plans to reinvent government, they are going to have to be much more convincing. They will have to bite the bullet and explain in a more rational way how they propose to implement the savings.