Simon puts Leo on the back foot in end of term report

Thank goodness, that is all done. A year to forget.

That was the collective reaction of every minister in our fragile Government on Thursday as the Dáil rose for its eight weeks’ holidays.

It would be fair to say ministers were more than glad to see the back of the political year, given they have been knocked senseless by a barrage of calamities, setbacks and own goals.

A bruising term for Fine Gael has been dominated by controversies including the CervicalCheck scandal, medical strikes, massive cost overruns on broadband and the children’s hospital as well as an uprising from beef farmers.

With most politicians already on election footing, this Government stands accused of merely marking time, with little or no real work being done.

A year ago, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was in a commanding lead in terms of poll ratings and he seemed to hold all the aces in terms of when a general election would be held.

Now, he and his Government are under severe pressure on many fronts, so, with the Dáil now in recess, it is fitting to review the performance of our leaders.

Leo Varadkar, Taoiseach:A very mixed term for Varadkar. A noted high was his standing up to German chancellor Angela Merkel in Brussels over her ill-judged deal proposal to resolve the impasse over the decision as to who will fill the top EU jobs for the next five years.

But domestically the shine has definitely come off Varadkar. Rightly criticised for acting more like a commentator than the Taoiseach, he is far too quick to try and shift blame elsewhere. His promise that women affected by the Cervical Check scandal would not need to keep going to court has been broken and he was forced to apologise in the Dáil to Micheál Martin after comparing him to a sinning priest. 4/10

Simon Coveney, Tánaiste: Has come into his own through the prism of Brexit and has caused some in Fine Gael to ask whether they plumped for the wrong guy as leader.

Brexit is the one issue where the public still believes the Government has done a good job and while he is often accused of control freakery by his colleagues, Coveney has succeeded in being coherent and consistent in the face of chaos in London. However, his admission that borders will have to occur in the case of a no-deal reveals how all his efforts may be in vain. 5/10

Paschal Donohoe, Finance: Has been the star pupil since his elevation to senior Cabinet in 2014, but has had a difficult term, to say the least. Has allowed his mantle for economic prudence and competence to take a bashing and even his selection of Central Bank governor has been the source of controversy.

The decision to overrule the very trenchant objections of his own top officials on the National Broadband Plan was startling and smacked of politics trumping prudence.

October’s Budget will be make-or-break for Donohoe’s legacy and time will tell if he can resist the pressure to loosen the purse strings ahead of the general election. But, continuedeconomic growth, strong tax revenues and falling unemployment cannot be ignored. 5/10

Michael Creed, Agriculture: A wily operator and has strong opposition to the Mercosur trade deal, committing to tearing it down. But with beef farmers on the March this week, the link between Fine Gael and their rural agricultural base is clearly under strain. 4/10

Charlie Flanagan, Justice: Could easily be called Minister for Spending Hours in the Seanad given the hours he had to put in passing Shane Ross’ judicial bill this term. The bill was subject to a filibuster of more than 100 hours and Flanagan, who is known to be lukewarm about the bill at best, was accused of being happy to allow the slow pace to continue.

Recent violent attacks and murders have again brought the resource issue in An Garda Síochána into focus, but on his watch, Flanagan has swelled the numbers of officers by more than 1,500. 4/10

Richard Bruton, Communications: Having been tipped for demotion, Bruton was installed to rescue the National Broadband Plan after Denis Naughten’s resignation. However, in light of everything we now know, Bruton’s decision to recommend Granahan-McCourt as the preferred bidder is a blunder of catastrophic proportions.

His climate action plan was laudable in its ambition but ran scared of putting it up to the agriculture sector and was weak and vague on areas of fossil-fuel extraction. 3/10

Simon Harris, Health: It goes with the territory that Health is impossible to fix and Harris, now three years in the job, despite high energy and effort, has struggled to overcome those challenges.

CervicalCheck, runaway budgets, and record waiting lists added to prolonged industrial action have all added to Harris’ woes and he must have been disappointed after Varadkar backed off his proposed summer reshuffle. To his credit, Harris has had to withstand vicious internal bickering from Merrion St and has brought a sense of humanity to the job which many others forget to do. 4/10

Eoghan Murphy, Housing: Fine Gael’s quintessential posh boy, Murphy has become the easy scapegoat of Varadkar’s Government on foot of the housing crisis which saw the number of homeless people officially top 10,000. We, of course, know the figure is much higher.

But Murphy’s“exciting” co-living proposal went down like a lead balloon and it appears little he does can make any impact to either the housing crisis or his own fate. All a shame as he is someone of tremendous ability, but the numbers are just against him. 2/10

Regina Doherty, Welfare: Not much to report here but has raised an important debate as to the future of welfare payments. Hard to see why her department’s budget, which ballooned during the crash, needs toremain so high at a time of near full-employment. 4/10

Josepha Madigan, Culture: Another low-key performance from Madigan who was mainly in the news this term for her family firm’s role in the Maria Bailey swing-gate controversy.

Madigan has said she is “very satisfied” with what a Fine Gael review into the Bailey case says about her. Madigan has refused to say whether she gave legal advice to Deputy Bailey relating to her personal injuries case. Along with Doherty, Madigan recently launched a welfare scheme which will allow self-employed artists including musicians and theatre practitioners are to become eligible for benefits. 3/10

Heather Humphreys, Business: Often regarded by many in her own party as “Heather who?”, Humphreys is perhaps unfairly targeted for being too under the radar.

But at a time of Brexit, Humphreys and her department have played a key role in the Government’s preparations to negate the impact.

Won praise for her “no-nonsense”appraisal of the Bailey swing-gate case in the context of the impact of such personal injuries claims on small businesses: “So if you trip, yeah, if you fall, you have to ask yourself how it happened. And more often than not, the reason is because of your own carelessness.” Not likely to be on Bailey’s Christmas card list. 5/10

Shane Ross, Transport: Helped turn the sod on the new parallel runway at Dublin Airport but was one a few highlights for Ross. Delays to the Dunkettle interchange, the Bus Connects row and the decision to end the Metro in Ranelagh have blighted his copybook. Remains the bête noir of many rural opposition TDs and most within Fine Gael who deeply resent his presence in Government. 4/10

Katherine Zappone, Children & Youth Affairs: A pragmatist, Zappone was forced to “pause” her much-feted adoption bill last month amid widespread concern and anger from campaigners and lawyers. The law, which seeks to give adoptees access to their birth records, was put on hold to allow further consultation. While she hasn’t suffered too much fallout as a result, it is never an ideal situation to be in. 4/10

Joe McHugh, Education: The newest member at Cabinet — his bill to lock testimonies relating to child abuse in residential institutions and related records away for 75 years is highly dubious, no matter what the rationale. The proposal has rightly been criticised. 4/10

Michael Ring, Rural Affairs: Clearly frustrated with not being taken seriously, Ringer still has the hallmarks of really being half a minister. A minuscule budget and clearly isolated at Cabinet, his potential to make change is limited. 3/10

Minister of the Year: This year’s top performer is not even a member of Cabinet. Michael D’Arcy, the juniorfinance minister, has done wellon the insurance issue and has rightly been singled out for praise for hisefforts. 6/10