MINISTER FOR Finance Brian Lenihan’s decision to create the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) and to defend it in the face of opposition is “probably the clearest act of political leadership” shown in Ireland for a decade, former Labour attorney general, Mr John Rogers has said.
His strong, unequivocal stand was vital “to the emergence in the clear light of day of the insistence by the State that it would assert its sovereignty over the bank financial crisis”, Mr Rogers told the British-Irish Association.
Bankers and regulators had “been given free rein” for over a decade: “Now there was someone in charge who was making new rules and was demonstrating that they would be made to work,” he said.
The remark by the Labour Party figure, which stands in contrast to his party’s official position on Nama, came during a debate for trust in politics between leading politicians, academics, community workers and others at the association’s meeting in Exeter College, Oxford, at the weekend. In September 2009, Mr Lenihan, he said, had gone before Fianna Fáil backbenchers and laid out his Nama policy “in clear terms and took responsibility for its formation and articulation.
“This was probably the clearest act of political leadership in the country for a decade. It was founded on the Minister’s clear personal acceptance of the precept that as Finance Minister he must and will accept responsibility for this strategy in the banking crisis,” said Mr Rogers.
Mr Lenihan’s conduct stands in contrast to Taoiseach Brian Cowen, who “has not accepted personal or political responsibility for the current state” of the economy and Minister for Justice, Mr Dermot Ahern who says “in effect, says that we are all responsible.
“It would appear, on this basis, that leaders in the Irish State have no greater responsibility for the economic strategies of the State than the ordinary voter,” said Mr Rogers, who served as attorney between 1984 and 1987.
Trust in Irish politicians has “been undermined because office holders visibly and plainly pursue their responsibilities irresponsibly”, he said.
Offering numerous examples, Mr Rogers said the “disastrous” decentralisation decision was pushed through by Charlie McCreevy as minister for finance without advance consultation and apparently with minimal cabinet discussion, while the Government agreed the September 2008 pay deal with public sector workers that “everyone knew could not be afforded”.
Politicians’ conduct in the aftermath of John O’Donoghue’s resignation as ceann comhairle over his expense claims did even more to undermine public trust.
“After his resignation in early 2010, the Dáil and Seanad reformed their expenses entitlements. This they did by providing that members would be entitled to a public representation allowance, without producing any receipts, of €15,000 – the all-in-one monthly parliamentary allowance – or up to €25,700 annually for fully vouched expenses. Who else in society gets a lump sum allowance on an unvouched basis? Was this not a pay increase for deputies?” Mr Rogers asked.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Mr Martin Mansergh said Ireland would have to follow Germany’s example of “rigorous budgetary discipline, extreme wage and competitiveness gains” in future.
The Government had more responsibility “than most” for the crisis, but he said “few anywhere anticipated the economic tsunami that has hit us in a much more vulnerable state than we should have been”. Though Ireland’s democratic institutions were “being questioned as never before, long-standing political stability has so far been maintained, the Minister of State declared.
The conference was attended by the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Mr Owen Paterson and the British attorney general, Mr Dominic Grieve.