Referendums decided - Vote does not resolve core issue

EVEN in the best of times a Government whose policies or candidates are endorsed three out of four times of asking by the electorate should be content if not happy.

In times as difficult as these such a strike rate should be deeply satisfying, but the fact that the defeat of the proposal on Oireachtas inquiries is of far more importance to this society than the three other votes combined casts a shadow over what should have been a very good weekend for the Coalition.

Though there must be considerable satisfaction in the Coalition that Michael D Higgins is our President-elect, and that Labour’s Patrick Nulty easily won the Dublin West by-election, Fine Gael’s mood will be darkened by the very poor showing by Gay Mitchell. This result seems particularly stark when compared to the party’s standing in the polls and will be dispiriting and divisive for Fine Gael. However, the rejection of the proposal to strengthen the Houses of the Oireachtas powers of inquiry is a far, far more significant defeat.

It was the first major piece of legislative reform proposed by the Kenny/Gilmore Government and despite the universal hunger to compel those who may have abused their positions to account for their actions it failed a fundamental test of democracy.

The case, had it been properly structured, presented and argued, is watertight and its rejection will do nothing to confront the dishonesty — now hardly recognised as such in so many quarters — eating at the heart of this society. By any reckoning this is a serious setback for the Government and anyone who still manages to believe that accountability and transparency have roles to play in our public affairs. The electorate simply did not believe politicians — today’s or maybe tomorrow’s — would not misuse the powers they sought. The profession of politics has been at a low ebb for some time but this is rejection is on an entirely new plane.

Unfortunately the real winners are those who are free to continue giving two fingers to any Oireachtas efforts to establish how our banking system imploded, how Fás came to epitomise sleaze, how so many auditors signed off on accounts now recognised as works of fiction, or how so many construction professionals signed approval notices for buildings they had never even seen. Like it or not, and despite the legitimate and genuine concerns of so many of those who opposed the amendment, this has to be seen as a victory for those who might be loosely described as the Ansbacher Classes.

There is the consolation, though, that the issue can be revisited during next year’s constitutional convention. Late last night Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore indicated that would probably be how the issue would be addressed — and it must be addressed.

Despite the result — 46.66% for, 53.34% against — it seems that there still is considerable support for the idea of giving our parliament powers to investigate matters of public interest, just not in the format proposed under the 30th amendment to the Constitution. It is not the principle that is at issue it is how it is enacted.

The challenge for the Government is to satisfy both of those imperatives in one piece of legislation. It may be difficult but it is not impossible, and it is essential if this society is to move away from the practices that have almost destroyed it. How the Government responds and advances this issue will be one of the defining projects of its term in office.