Howlin slams Ross’s ‘Trump-like’ tactics
WEXFORD DEPUTY SAVAGES GOVERNMENT AFTER ITS FIRST 200 DAYS IN OFFICE
DEPUTY Brendan Howlin has accused Minister for Transport Shane Ross of ‘Trump-like’ distraction tactics, in a scathing report on the government’s first 200 days in office.
‘Just 14 Acts have been passed since they took office, and just 20 this year in total. That compares to 66 Acts passed last year.. I can’t think of any year during my time in the Oireachtas when so few bills became law,’ said Deputy Howlin, a former minister in a coalition government led by Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
He said industrial unrest had continued to grow, with over 14,000 work days lost in the last quarter due to strikes, compared to none in the same period last year.
‘The government has no public pay strategy. It has refused to consider several Labour Party proposals to address this, including opening discussions on a successor to the Lansdowne Road Agreement, establishing an employer-labour conference or even using the National Economic and Social Council which has been left without a mandate,’ said the Labour leader.
‘And of co urse, there is no issue that is too important for them to kick to a commission or a committee - water charges, third level fees, repeal of the eighth amendment - all of them kicked to touch. From the rental crisis to the baptism barrier, issues and laws are being parked or deferred.
‘Most damning of all though, has been the emergence of complete Cabinet chaos - and that is made abundantly clear by looking at the record of one Minister in particular.’
Deputy Howlin said Shane Ross had failed to make a single appointment to a state board since his appointment. ‘Apparently it is beyond his ability to short-list candidates from a list of qualified candidates provided to him by the Public Appointment Service, and beyond his abilities to give the PAS guidance as to the type of short-list he wants.
‘He has also still failed to produce a set of policy priorities for his own Department, despite promising that he would do so by September. And of course he failed to get any meaningful investment at all for public transport or sport in the Budget.’
‘By any reasonable measure, he is utterly failing in his duties as a Minister. And any time he is challenged on this, he tries the Trump trick - distraction. Because he is under pressure on an area within his remit at the moment, he decides it is opportune to continue attacking the judiciary, provoking an absolutely fair response from the Chief Justice.
‘We all have an obligation to stop him seeking to distract us from his own failures.’