A week from hell in the shadow of an early budget

For a while recently, it seemed as if Fine Gael"s outspoken TD Leo Varadkar was the only politician in Ireland willing to avoid media popularity contests, the cult of personality, and have the bottle to tell it like it is. Not so. Up pops little-known Fianna Fail TD John McGuinness who has bravely called for the axing of 8,000 State jobs and the abolition of a number of dreaded quangos. Department of Trade and Enterprise Junior Minister McGuinness said recently that too much power was afforded these unaccountable bodies. It is indeed rare to see a politician come out and speak honestly, especially when it indicates his own department is too large. Such comments will no doubt win him no favours with Taoiseach Brian Cowen or Fianna Fail ministers who stick to party loyalty come hell or high water. But party loyalty, with which Fianna Fail is obsessed, should not be an imperative during these extremely turbulent financial and economic times, as Ireland"s unemployment rate soars by the week and financial nightmares on Wall Street are bound to affect the rest of the EU in the coming months and beyond. The Taoiseach this week reminded his annual parliamentary party think-in in Galway that the credit crunch was continuing to unleash havoc across the world and is negatively impacting on our economy. He said the Government was examining current and capital spending and that, as the exchequer has less money coming in, there is less to spend. This is where Mr McGuinness"s outspoken criticism is relevant. The black hole that is certain parts of the State sector suck up millions of euro but don"t deliver quality and efficient services. There is no doubt that Mr McGuinness has looked at the efficiency of the private sector and the head-rolling that results when a job can"t be done right. Why should many public sector workers worry about delivering good services when accountability is non-existent in State offices throughout the land? As the Taoiseach"s think tank get-together in Galway wrapped up yesterday (Tuesday), the Irish electorate will surely continue to keep focused on the Government"s performance in the coming months and beyond into 2009 when local elections are scheduled in June. The agenda at the two-day meeting this week was mostly about the economy, but preparations for next year"s local and European elections was also a highlight of the talks - including the aftermath of the Lisbon Treaty and how the Government proposes to deal with that particular nettle. In an editorial on the downturn in the economy some months ago, the conclusion was not to panic as the situation didn"t equate to Armageddon. The current situation may still not be economic Armageddon but when some of the world"s largest investment banks like Lehman Brothers go to the wall within months of each other, massive global companies like AIG are forced to go cap in hand to to US government in a bid to plug a big hole in its finances and stock markets around the world plunge to the extent that they have this week, then the economic and financial uncertainty that is gripping global equity markets in serious. Against this backdrop, the national pay talks are moving into their final phase at Government Buildings in Dublin trying to put together a crucial deal that will salvage social partership in these difficult times. All sides yesterday evening discussed the key issues surrounding pay and the duration of any potential agreement. To follow this, an early emergency budget on 14th October. There will rarely be a more stressful week, in economic terms, for Brian Cowen and the Government.