“I know that some of the providers won’t be happy with this. But look, eh, that’s life.”
The words of Minister for Communications Patrick O’Donovan on Morning Ireland on Wednesday, explaining changes to allow people to exit phone and broadband contracts if service providers such as Vodafone, Eir, and the rest hike their prices, signalled a change in attitude that is becoming more pronounced in some parts of the Government.
O’Donovan’s proposals are pretty modest, a minor change in a corner of public policy that is not, though laudable, going to make all that much difference one way or another.
But it is the attitude that he displayed that is more significant. He is saying: “You vested interests might not like what I’m doing, but I’m doing it with the greater public interest in mind, so you can like it or lump it. And if there’s political fallout, so be it.” I’m told the industry didn’t even get a heads-up on what was coming.
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O’Donovan is a bit of a Marmite minister, in that people tend to like or dislike him. I’m not sure his department is the best fit for him. And although he is probably the object of a fair bit of sneering from the metropolitan cultural elite, it’s probably not as much as he thinks. The arts community loves to be feted by their Minister – look how they still revere Michael D Higgins, 30 years after his stint in the department – but they love money even more. And O’Donovan has continued the prized artists’ basic income scheme, and has done okay in budget horse-trading for the sector, even if he is hardly best buddies with the Arts Council. The big increases in arts funding secured by the previous minister Catherine Martin have been largely maintained.
O’Donovan’s attitude was noticeable because it jarred with a principle on which much of Irish politics and policymaking seems predicated: the idea that it is politically unwise to offend anyone, anywhere. This has its roots in two things: the consensual style of government that has evolved in the post-partnership era and the small, localised nature of our electoral system.
The first protects those already within the system, who are usually allergic to change, and the second is a constant warning to elected politicians that those who annoy groups of voters do so at their peril. Together, they strangle innovation and stifle decision-making.
One thing you hear around Government a bit lately – 100 years after his birth – is admiration for the ability of Charles Haughey to get things done when in power. In truth, this was a feature of his later stint in the Taoiseach’s office after 1987 (rather than his aimless period in the office in the early 1980s) when he knew how to drive his officials – and the political system – into getting things done, making changes, producing results. The Haughey modus operandi compares favourably, insiders mutter, to the inability of modern administrations to get anything done quickly.
Now when a Minister wants to embark on any reform, he or she starts by inviting consultations with the public – a process that is always dominated by advocacy groups and stakeholders – before a lengthy process during which anyone who might be remotely discommoded by reforms can try to scupper them. And as noted around here before, a reform that doesn’t annoy somebody is probably not worth the trouble.
This is one of the refreshing qualities that O’Donovan has displayed: he is not afraid to annoy people. In fact, he sometimes gives the impression he rather enjoys it.
It is something that you notice among other Ministers who are doing well. Jim O’Callaghan has kicked the hornets’ nest of immigration reform, triggering a tsunami of criticism from NGOs and some – though noticeably not all – Opposition parties.
Answering questions on the subject at Government Buildings this week after the Government announced its plans for tightening the rules on migration and citizenship, O’Callaghan struck a similar tone to O’Donovan.
Look, he said, Irish citizenship for foreign-born people who come here to work or to seek asylum is not a right – it is a privilege granted by the Government on behalf of the people. Same with family reunification. We want to reduce the numbers of people coming here and this is one of the ways we are going to do it. Give out about that if you like.
O’Callaghan’s numbers are not flawless. Asylum seekers are a minority of people coming to this country and the 60-odd per cent who are refused asylum hardly constitute the “overwhelming majority” that he suggests. But he is taking on reforms that he knows will be unpopular in some very vocal quarters.
So is Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. She is making enemies among hospital managers and senior doctors by insisting that rosters are changed to staff hospitals more fully at weekends. In one celebrated encounter at the Mater hospital a couple of months ago, she abruptly left a meeting in which the chair of the hospital’s board David Begg protested at her treatment of senior executives, telling her: “You’re not God.”
Well, she may not be God, but she is getting some results. Trolley counts are down; more patients are being seen. This is a direct result of a more direct approach. God knows there is lot that remains to be fixed in the health service, but Carroll MacNeill can at least point to a narrative of progress.
It’s 12 months ago today since the general election. Across much of the administration, the charge of being the “do-nothing government” stings because activity and delivery is so slow. The Ministers who will flourish are those who don’t care too much about putting noses out of joint. Some people won’t like it, of course. But that’s life.
