Coronavirus in Ireland – Has opposition held Government to account for its knee-jerk reactions to Covid-19 crisis?
THERE has been much commentary on the caretaker Government’s rather uneven response to Covid-19.
Broadly speaking, they did very well in preventing hospitals being overwhelmed but failed nursing homes and poor management of capacity issues worsened problems in non-Covid services.
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Knee-jerk decisions have also led to a massive social welfare bill that is difficult to unwind and its lockdown exit plan is messy and unfair to some businesses.
But what of the Opposition? How has their response to Covid-19 been?
Despite limitations on accountability in the Dail, have they sufficiently held the Government to account on the society-altering decisions being made?
Technically, Fianna Fail is the lead Opposition party, though its hankering after power means it straddles both sides of the house. It has done neither side of this task particularly well. Its education spokesman Thomas Byrne scored a hit over other parties in being the first to call for the Leaving Cert to be cancelled after two months of dithering at Cabinet.
Stephen Donnelly has been very able in health, though has oddly not attracted much credit for this in the media. He was early out of the traps on highlighting the nursing home scandal and called for inquiry. However, he could’ve shared the blame out more evenly to the private sector earning huge profits from care homes that turned out to be ill-equipped.
More recently he has called on the Government to cancel the contract with private hospitals, a deal estimated at €115million a month which has done more harm than good. On these two issues, Donnelly has been a standout performer in Opposition, though his unshowy manner means he’s got little traction.
Micheal Martin has been largely quiet on the crisis. This is an intentional strategy to sit on the fence on actions and measures that he may have to continue to follow as Taoiseach in a matter of weeks.
However, to be fair, he has been critical of Leo Varadkar’s roadmap out of lockdown, saying aspects were “foolish” and “made no sense” — a feeling that would’ve chimed with a growing mood of frustration in business.
There may be panic in some quarters in Fianna Fail about its plummet in opinion polls, but Martin is wily and realises that these online polls are unreliable and reflective of a short-term emotional moment in the crisis.
The public’s response to the unlocking of restrictions or in the reimposition of them with a second surge, will gauge true feelings towards the parties later.
Those online-only opinion polls have registered a much unremarked-upon bounce for Sinn Fein since their strong election. Pearse Doherty was vocal about the insurance industry. Insurers have refused to pay out to bars and hotels on policies that listed infectious diseases under interruption of business cover.
McDonald said Fine Gael had stolen and plagiarised its policies, presumably on the rent and eviction freeze and Covid payments, but she didn’t criticise the Government’s response in general.
The firms have emerged as big villains in the pandemic and Doherty struck a chord. Mary Lou McDonald was out of the fray for weeks after a bad dose of the disease but since returning has played an overly cautious game.
It seems as if she is waiting to see which way the wind is blowing before deciding whether to support or oppose government measures. This could be interpreted as cautious and wise, but also as fence-sitting and leads voters to wonder what Sinn Fein would actually do if it was in charge?
In her Sunday Independent interview at the weekend, McDonald said Fine Gael had stolen and plagiarised its policies, presumably on the rent and eviction freeze and Covid payments, but she didn’t criticise the Government’s response in general.
Sinn Fein had no view on the Leaving Cert, has stopped short of calling for the private hospital deal to be cancelled and has had not made it clear how it views the Government’s roadmap.
Alan Kelly had to make an impression as he became the Labour leader mid-crisis and though his angle may not have moved the public, it was the strongest of the main Opposition parties.
He has returned again and again to the “who’s in charge?” question, suggesting that NPHET, chaired by Dr Tony Holohan, seems to running the country without much accountability. That line has captured the mood more as time goes on.
Kelly has highlighted that the Government seems over-reliant on and unchallenging of advice from senior civil servants. Advice looks more like instruction these days. He has also importantly put attention on the scarcity of notes and minutes being recorded and published at meetings where issues of national importance are decided.
It’s been a strong start for the new leader and we can expect his bolshie style to be a regular noise in Opposition.
Overall, the Opposition acted as much of the country did. Nervous and thunderstruck by the rapid move from normality to lockdown, it stood back and gave the State powers the benefit of the doubt. That time has passed, however, and scrutiny is reopening.
The mood has changed and people are questioning the continued closure of schools and the cost to regular health services and the economy.
The caretaker Government has benefitted from the UK’s disastrous handling of Covid-19, the use of public health advice as a shield, and an Opposition unwilling to gamble on criticism.
Leo's Diary
Sup diary,
I’m subjected to more scrutiny and criticism than ever. Not over the whole nursing homes or rampantly-infected-meat-plants thing, but over whether I should’ve gone shirtless while drinking cans in the park.
Like duh, it’s the northside, so totes do what the locals do! Hilair to see the trolls get their Bobby Sands tattoos in a twist over my day out sunbathing. Some called on me to resign. Haha.
I already did that! Two months ago! And the piddly poet President refused to accept it cos I’m constitutionally obliged to take massive pay and expenses for a job I lost interest in ages ago. God I love this country.
So yeah, no, I wasn’t breaking any Covid rules during my craft beer sesh in the Phoenix Park. I was within 5km of my new home, Steward’s Lodge. Should be called Ledgebag Lodge. It’s not free tho, I have to pay a small fee to use it.
Wait, pay a tiny bit of rent to live in a gaff owned and maintained by taxpayers? Turns out I’m actually a big fan of social housing after all! Who knew?
Next time I go shirtless in the Pork you never know, I might even get a tattoo to really fit in with the locals. A Kylie tattoo, natch.
Anyhoo, now that I’m living in Farmleigh, I’ve made another little bit of Irish political history, cos it’s the smallest house any leader of Fine Gael has ever lived in. Gtg figuring out how to stop paying 350 a week to povs living the high life.
Obvs I see no prob telling people to drop the Covid payment and feck off back to their crap wages while claiming six figures for a gig I was like soooo fired from in February. Loldole.
Later diary,
Leo xoxo.
ECONOMIC PURGATORY
THE economy is in a sort of purgatory right now.
We know the outcome of the lockdown is going to be bad for business and jobs but with most of the economy still shut, we can’t actually see the damage just yet.
We need ideas to support small and medium businesses who are most at risk.
They’ve been in the shadow of multinationals for too long despite employing nearly a million people — which is half the workforce, and four times as many as big foreign firms.
Virgin Media announced a €1million Backing Business scheme, offering free advertising slots on its TV channels to small firms to help them exit the lockdown.
It’s a terrific idea that the Government should really latch onto.
How about approaching tax-shy tech firms to ramp up Virgin’s idea? Facebook and Google ads would greatly help small businesses as they try to hold on amid a pandemic that has seen tech giants eat their lunch.
It wouldn’t cost them anything to offer a €5million campaign for SMEs for starters.
Amazon, the big winner in the global Coronavirus crisis, could provide a scheme to help small firms in Ireland set up their wares online.
The setback for the State’s finances has put the national broadband scheme back in question after years of delays.
If the tech giants avoiding billions in taxes in Ireland only committed a tiny slice of their massive revenue to the project to get businesses in the regions connected, they would win far more ‘likes’ from a pandemic weary Irish citizenry that is facing major tax hikes come the autumn.
AT THE DRIVE-IN
GAVIN James has become the first act in Ireland to try out drive-in concerts. The Dubliner announced shows in Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Kilkenny.
Social media responded in true form — begrudging, scathing and dismissive of someone’s sound efforts.
Gavin deserves praise for being the first to risk the endeavour. The criticism of the no-alcohol rule online has only served to give the shows maximum publicity ahead of Friday’s 9am ticket sales launch.
Concert-goers must be from the same household and can only leave the car to use the toilet. At €60 per car, or €15 per head for a full car, it would probably be the cheapest big-name show held here for decades.
But with only 300 cars max attending each show the revenue will be small, so it’s likely to be more a trial or novelty effort rather than a feasible alt- ernative to the real thing.
The Danish musician Mads Langer performed a live drive-in concert at Tangkroen in Aarhus last month, but it’s good branding for James who is one of the good guys.
MOST READ IN NEWS
Under the Government’s lockdown roadmap, limited large gatherings will be permitted after August 10 but with social distancing.
It’s not clear how large the permitted crowds can be, but it’s likely to allow weddings to go ahead as long as households are two metres apart. It makes for a grim family event, especially for the photos, the ceremony, dinner and dancing.
In truth, live event promoters don’t expect shows of any significant scale to be held for another year, so if the best we can hope for is Gavin from our car, then so be it. He deserves praise for taking the leap.