Regaining credibility - Croke Park reform deal must deliver

TAOISEACH Enda Kenny visited Prime Minister David Cameron in Downing Street for the first time yesterday and he took the opportunity of his London visit to speak to a group of investment managers and international finance journalists.

His objective was to reassure those who might invest in Ireland that there is real, positive change afoot and that we will deliver on our obligations. He promised his government will take “hard and tough” decisions with “courage” and “fairness”.

Mr Kenny followed in the footsteps of our last Finance Minister Brian Lenihan who made more or less the same promises in the same city, to the same kind of audience, a little over two years ago.

That those promises were not fulfilled made Mr Kenny’s task all the more difficult and urgent.

It meant that Ireland Inc has a significant credibility deficit that we must resolve before we can expect any real recovery.

As Mr Kenny flew the flag in London, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore was in Dublin on a very similar bridge-building mission. He met 26 EU ambassadors and told them the meeting was a step towards restoring Ireland’s reputation in Europe and renewing relationships that are not as strong as they were and need to be again.

Mr Gilmore said that a reduction in the EU/IMF interest rate should be agreed but not be linked to our corporation tax, which would remain unchanged.

Both men made promises that they cannot deliver on until all of the savings and reforms envisioned under the Croke Park deal have been realised.

Achieving these is so very important that a roll call of senior ministers, and yesterday the Taoiseach, have warned that further public sector pay cuts will be imposed if savings cannot be made under Croke Park.

Reaching that point would be disastrous and signal that our road to recovery will be far longer and far grimmer than it might otherwise be.

The scene is set for the kind of confrontation that should be the stuff of nightmares.

Rather than agreed reforms, the kind that would rebuild confidence and create a sense of possibility, the kind that everyone knows we so badly need, we could have a standoff between a Government whose hands are tied by the IMF/EU rescue deal, whose coffers are empty and whose international credibility is more or less in tatters, and our public sector unions.

None of us, public or private sector worker, can afford this especially as it would once again defer inevitable change.

Confidence is an ephemeral thing not easily recovered once lost. It has a huge contribution to make towards the success or failure of nearly everything we do.

Ireland has coped with three years of bad news and real cuts in living standards.

If the Croke Park process fails, it could well be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and destroys our reputation for years to come.

Those involved must realise that they are in a process that will have a huge impact far beyond the narrow confines of any sectional interest.