I was in Leinster House this week. It was almost deserted except for a few TDs working away diligently in their offices. My footsteps echoed along the corridors of power where normally there would be the hustle and bustle of busy deputies. The deputies, other than those engaged in committee work, seemed to be taking it easy.
You can't really blame the Government TDs. After all, everyone seems to be very happy with this Government, and indeed why shouldn't they be? Employment is up, interests rates are down. The economy is roaring ahead.
Strangely this satisfaction would appear to have affected the Opposition.
With the exception of Pat Rabbitte, Michael Noonan and Alan Dukes it hasn't been operating as an Opposition at all.
The word "opposition" is something of a misnomer, but we are stuck with it. Simply opposing everything the Government tries to do is not the job of the Opposition. Its task is to examine the policies and legislation being put forward and to raise questions about it; to point out any flaws and to pressurise the Government into performing as well as it can.
While I was walking through Leinster House I got to thinking about when Fianna Fail was in opposition during 1995 and 1996, at a time when there was a relatively high satisfaction rate with the rainbow coalition. Did Fianna Fail allow the government to relax and bask in glory? Not likely. The business, indeed the duty, of each frontbencher was to find within his or her own area of responsibility the Achilles heel of each minister.
Having located the area where a minister was underperforming, the task was to chip away at it until it became a burning issue, not just in Leinster House but, more importantly, in the public mind.
Michael Noonan, Pat Rabbitte and Alan Dukes have made the effort to find flaws in performances and to highlight them. They have been aided by their media expertise. For example, Michael Noonan pursued Charlie McCreevy on the supposed extra £1 billion in the public coffers and made life very tough for the Minister. It was a good job well done, but an isolated one.
The most recent polls demonstrated how little impact John Bruton is having in his role as leader of the Opposition.
What is missing is a co-ordinated campaign. Mr Bruton appears to have no plan, no strategy and, consequently, does not seem to be leading at all. It is not as if there's no ammunition available to him. There is no shortage of issues to make political capital out of.
Issues like the surplus £1 billion; the growing housing crisis in the local authorities, caused to a great extent by the soaring house prices in the private sector; child care, yet again ignored during the Budget and with responsibility for it spread over no fewer than eight Government Departments; health care in general and hospitals in particular; and transport, including the chronic Dublin traffic situation.
I'm sorry, Mr Bruton, but silly PR gimmicks like standing in a bus queue no longer wash with the public. Why not take on issues like digital broadcasting, which may not excite the public very much, but is going to be vitally important for the whole future of broadcasting in this State?
So where is the alternative taoiseach and the alternative government? Where is Fine Gael? The public liked John Bruton when he was taoiseach. They felt he represented them well as head of government, the safe pair of hands at the tiller of the ship of state, but they seem to believe now that he is not a major political player any more.
Indeed, it looks very much as if the voting public has a strong sense that he'll never be taoiseach again.
That is serious for him personally. If it is indeed the case, where does that leave Fine Gael? I would have thought it is time for the party to take stock and to look to its own future.
What about the young and indeed not so young FG tigers elected for the first time at the last election? Where are they now? All deputies have a strong sense of survival.
In a situation where the present Government is subject to the whims of a number of Independents one would have expected the main Opposition party to be turning up the heat on every available occasion.
For example, tabling private members' motions which attract the support of Independents and make it difficult for Government; and asking seemingly innocent parliamentary questions which have had a happy knack in the past of causing serious embarrassment for successive governments.
Don't get me wrong. I'm quite sure Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats are delighted Fine Gaelers are the strong silent types and can always be depended upon not to make waves.
My case is quite different. I know that a strong coherent aggressive opposition enhances the level of debate in parliament. It makes for interesting and often heated discussions, and it most certainly keeps a government on its toes.
It would appear as if all the political action these days has switched from the main Dail chamber to the committees. That is a coup for the committee system, which has had a difficult birth, but it is deadly dangerous for party leaders whose political theatre is, after all, the Dail chamber.
If I were in John Bruton's shoes I would be taking stock and doing it quickly. Or has he and his party decided that the Labour leader, Ruairi Quinn, is indeed the alternative taoiseach after all?