Bus lanes controversy - Government driving in wrong lane

WITH Fine Gael and Labour growing more out of touch with the public by the day, it is timely to ask if the Government is losing its grasp on political reality.

As if things weren’t bad enough, people who have to endure traffic jams on their way to work will now be forced to suffer the arrogance of ministers driving in the nearby bus lane following a secret decision to change the law.

That reflects a mindset of politicians losing the run of themselves.

It smacks of self-importance and elitism, an attitude common to potentates and which in other countries would have people taking to the streets.

It is certainly a long way from the much vaunted public relations image of Cabinet ministers travelling together modestly by bus so as to save taxpayers’ money rather than swanning around, Fianna Fáil-style, in a fleet of costly limos.

To the political credit of Transport Minister Leo Varadkar, the haughty decision to exempt ministers so they could drive in bus lanes was taken against his wishes. Illustrating his awareness of how out of touch this would be seen by the public, he signed a personal note of disavowal on the face of the secret statutory instrument, which has effectively given force to the change in law without the Government having to go through the embarrassing experience of a debate on the floor of the Dáil on so contentious an issue.

As the old French adage goes, the more things change the more they remain the same. That is certainly true of the Coalition’s blatant efforts to soften people up for next month’s hairshirt budget. Reminiscent of a strategy honed by FF, past masters in the art of political deception, the current administration has engaged in a series of pre-budget leaks that make a nonsense of its promise to govern in a transparent and visible manner.

On the controversial issue child benefit, for instance, the impression has been conveyed of a give-and-take policy that will target people in the middle income bracket.

Clearly, this is to deflect blame from Labour, already under attack for back-tracking on a ministerial pledge not to raise college fees.

Similarly, Fine Gael is open to criticism for pegging the number of junior ministers at 15, thus reneging on its promised ceiling of 12.

Adding to the Government’s embarrassment, there was the spectacle of a PR shambles in Germany where a looming VAT rise to 23% was revealed before Irish people knew anything about it.

According to Unite, one of the country’s major unions, the hike will hit poorer people three times harder than the better paid.

More than words could tell, the VAT foul reflects the true extent of Ireland’s loss of sovereignty. If the Government has not quite reached Fianna Fáil’s level of disassociation from the people, it is heading in that direction.