To understand all that is wrong with the current government, look no further than John Halligan’s intervention in Wednesday’s Dail debate on cardiac services.
During the debate the minister of state for skills and training invited Fianna Fail to bring down the government over a lack of cardiac facilities at University Hospital Waterford (UHW). He said that if Fianna Fail put down a vote of no confidence over the issue of a second cath lab for the hospital, Sinn Fein and a number of independents would support it and the government would have to give in on the issue or fall.
Mr Halligan was right when he said that the main opposition party had more power on the issue of diagnostic imaging equipment than he did. Without Fianna Fail’s support the government would indeed collapse. He was also trying to highlight a situation in which Fianna Fail is pulling its punches because it does not want to bring down the coalition — at least not yet.
That said, it is absolutely extraordinary that a minister in any government can incite the main opposition party to call a motion of no confidence.
By doing so, the minister was effectively signalling that this single issue affecting his own constituency was more important than the future of a government in which he is a relatively senior member. Which raises the questions: does he really want to be in government at all; where do his priorities lie and, most critically, how can an administration prosper in such circumstances?
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Mr Halligan clearly feels strongly about the need for a second cath lab at UHW. He has threatened to resign over the issue, but an independent review found that there was no case for it.
Given the finding it would be hugely irresponsible for Simon Harris, the health minister, to approve it. It is critical that decisions are made on the basis of clinical need not political wheeler-dealing, particularly when resources are so scarce. We know that in the past this has not always happened in health, sometimes with disastrous consequences.
Mr Halligan has rejected the conclusion of the review, arguing that the analysis used was flawed — an accusation that is emphatically denied by the consultant who carried it out. A compromise of sorts has been reached, with the addition of a mobile cath lab to the hospital in Waterford to help ease the waiting list of almost 500 people who needed cardiac care. Though this does not offer a 24-hour service, Mr Halligan’s protests have ensured there will be a second review into the need for another cath lab this year.
If the second review confirms the findings of the first, it will be impossible for the government to recommend a second cath lab. At that point, Mr Halligan must decide whether or not he can continue in government.
Until that second review is carried out, the junior minister would be advised to hold fire. All the more so given his reported belief that “fairness would prevail” and that a second cath lab would be awarded in the end.
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His comments may play well locally but there is a far bigger picture that any minister needs to consider, including not undermining the government they serve.
Unfortunately the minority administration is hugely vulnerable to such solo runs. As it needs every last vote, there is little that the government can do to censor Mr Halligan. It must do everything possible to keep him and others on board for as long as possible.
So while massive challenges face the government — Brexit and the housing crisis being the two most obvious — to survive it must spend time on local issues raised by ministers. Given its vulnerability, how can it possibly take difficult decisions in the national interest?
This is no way to run a government or a country. New politics? Bad politics, more like.