Roisin Shortall walks tall

It’s a day on from the bombshell resignation of Roisin Shortall from government.  I was shocked by the move but to be fair, knowing Roisin as I do, She is an honourable woman. What you see with her is what you get. She has always been someone of values who believes in principle. today I was reminded of how over 10 years ago as Education spokesperson she raised the teachers dispute despite it being very unpopular.  About 20 years ago she was one of a number of Labour TD’s to resign the whip in protest at the Cahill Plan for Aer Lingus.

 The debacle will stand out for the remainder of the time that this government is in power as a watermark. But it shouldn’t. The loss of Willie Penrose shouldn’t have happened either.  When Willie resigned it was put to Labour that a local decision cannot be made as the wider interest demanded a strategic organisation of the defence forces.  So Mullingar lost its barracks while Athlone retained its military presence.  Here we have the direct opposite, local decisions are now being made when it suits Fine Gael. Strategic organisational decisions to plan the delivery of a service can now be made based on local criteria. The logic for the decision that led to Willie Penrose’s resignation is now binned.  If anyone should reflect on the last 24 hours and ask what if, it’s Willie.

So let’s park the personality issue because I have no insight into how relations work within a department and instead let’s look at the policy and in particular the criteria around the decision.   If you look at the list of primary care centres Ballymote in South Sligo is 25km from the Ballaghderreen centre that was added by Dr Reilly. Balbriggan also added by Dr Reilly is 14 km from Laytown which in turn is 11 km from the Drogheda primary care centres.  Minister Reilly points to population in the case of Swords demanding a primary care centre so let’s grant him that. Nearly 50,000 do have health need.  So are there 50,000 people living in both North Roscommon and South Sligo to justify each getting a primary care centre? Do these bordering areas have such high levels of deprivation? Or is there a big enough population between Drogheda, Laytown and Balbriggan to justify 3 of the 35 centres to be built nationally? 4 if you add Swords a motorway junction or 2 south of Balbriggan?

A lot of Labour voters and members have contacted me in the last 24 hours to make it clear that they resent the behaviour of Minister Reilly towards Roisin Shortall. That makes this matter different to the resignation of the whip of other Labour TD’s.  This will have implications for day to day government into the future and make framing a budget harder.  I’m not saying there won’t be a budget, the reality is that there will be as the need to drag the country out of the FF & green slump is all consuming and essential.

However it will make all the work like the children’s referendum, the public service, local government  re-organisation which is upcoming fast, all harder. This was needless.     

The Life of Reilly

Our Health Minister James Reilly has an almost impossible job.  Being Deputy Leader of the main government party usually brings with it enormous kudos.  Instead in this government his role as deputy leader of Fine Gael is often forgotten both in the media and in politics.  He is technically one heart beat away from being Taoiseach.  Politically he is an Irish mile away from ever being Taoiseach.  Until the 2011 election Reilly had an outstanding reputation on the floor of the Dail as he harried Mary Harney  about misdiagnoses, co-location and health cuts.  When the right wing of Fine Gael failed to ditch Enda Kenny 2 years ago Reilly was the surprise appointment to replace Richard Bruton as FG’s new no 2.

That all seems an age ago now.  To his credit the mammoth that was once the HSE is on its way out the door. The extension to Wexford General Hospital did get the nod from his department although I’ve been known to credit my colleague Brendan Howlin with that on one or two occasions!  I get the feeling that for Dr Reilly the tide may be turning within his own party.  My ears pricked up recently when I heard a TD who was passed over for preferment by Enda Kenny say on radio he’d bought a 2^nd hand Merc. As one who likes to read political tea leaves that was an interesting statement given that ministers are required to provide their own car.  Reilly remains surprisingly to me one heart beat away from controversy.  I’m not going to rehash the Revenue or Stubbs controversy but these do raise eyebrows.   The country pile and how salaries at the top end of the health service seem to remain immune to cuts are also mentioned in despatches.

North Dublin politics is rough as I well know from my time living there.  To give him credit he re-invigorated Fine Gael in Fingal after they lost their seat there when he could have stayed outside and developed his successful practice and continue in medical politics. His FG predecessors there were steeped in FG history and while he won his seat easily he doesn’t have the sense of FG tradition of a Kenny or Bruton.

Looking forward to the end of the year, all ministers will have a tough estimate to thrash out given the targets set by the Troika.  I may be alone now in detecting in FG an isolation of his position given Leo Varadkar’s accurate clarification of the government position on the CPA but given all that this government has been through in the last 18 months one wonders if there may be a reshuffle in the offing after the budget and referendum are out of the way?  The ministerial crown (no pun intended Senator!) may be on Reilly’s head but is there just now a question mark over how long more it may be there?