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REARVIEW:CALL ME an old cynic but this new regime for ministerial use of State-provided cars holds about as much water as a rusty colander. Sure enough the Government has held good on its promise to cut down on the cost of ministerial transport following pre-election uproar.
But what has emerged is little more than a deckchair-moving exercise. A few quid has been saved and the optics look good, but a real opportunity has been missed.
The debate before the election was underpinned by old-fashioned Irish begrudgery on the one hand and old-fashioned Irish State overspending on the other. It reached such ridiculous heights of stupidity that at one point Brian Lenihan, the then finance minister, turned up for a radio interview in the back of a Ford Mondeo – and made sure of a photo opportunity at the boot of the car to drive home the point.
Fine Gael, for its part, pontificated from on high on the issue during the election campaign. Before the votes were even counted, however, Enda Kenny was traversing the country in a helicopter and taking his suit jacket out of the back of a Mercedes E Class (all paid for by the party of course).
As I said, call me an old cynic.
But the new ministerial transport regime was only ever about the optics, not about really saving money, and optics are most important when elections are imminent.
Don’t get me wrong, I am all for saving money and cutting out waste. I think, however, the rules were changed simply because some of the electorate made a very public fuss before the election. The Government has missed an opportunity to make real changes in transport provision in State bodies. Why not introduce electric vehicles to the ministerial fleet? A small number of such cars could be used for short trips by ministers in Dublin city centre?
How many civil servants, who have access to free parking spaces, drive to work in Dublin city centre and what does this do for the capital’s streets? Does the Government still spend €8 million per year renting these spaces? What is Dr James Reilly going to do about the almost €30 million spent on taxis by the Health Service Executive each year? Is there a cheaper option? And on, and on.