Dust-up over FG rivals’ grand plans ends Dáil on sour note
Leadership tilts or just sensible ideas? Simon and Leo can’t seem to dodge the merciless scrutiny of the dauphin watchers...
THE Government closed the Dáil session with a bad-tempered row over interventions by Simon Coveney and Leo Varadkar on budgetary matters, the Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Cabinet colleagues were ‘furious’ that Mr Varadkar’s suggestion that social welfare payments could be index-linked was not discussed at Cabinet.
Meanwhile, ministers and senior civil servants at the Department of Finance expressed concern that elements of Mr Coveney’s housing Bill would need ‘a lot of discussion’ before the Budget.
There was dismay in the Varadkar camp that what they considered a sensible suggestion led to accusations that he was engaging in a bid for the leadership of Fine Gael.
In a speech at the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Co. Donegal, the Social Protection Minister said he wanted to ‘protect the value of these payments now and into the future’. But his supporters’ dismay was nothing compared to the reaction of Cabinet members.
A fellow minister told the MoS that he was ‘furious’ when he saw reports of the proposal.
‘That is a major economic proposal and it should have been discussed at Cabinet first.’ However, a source close to Mr Varadkar expressed bewilderment at the reaction among Cabinet colleagues and others.
‘It was broadly welcomed by the social policy community which was Leo’s audience,’ said a source. Another close supporter of Mr Varadkar’s also believed it was ‘a total row over nothing’. Meanwhile, there is also disquiet among his team over the demands that he should have to discuss such a proposal with colleagues – as the rule doesn’t apply to others.
The Government source said: ‘You either bring [to Cabinet] a definitive proposal that has been fleshed out, or you bring in a piece of legislation. But if you have an idea, you don’t bring it to Cabinet; you go and develop the idea.’
Meanwhile, it is also believed that Finance Minister Michael Noonan feels the taxation elements of Mr Coveney’s housing Bill needed to be agreed with Fianna Fáil before it can be put in the Budget. As far as Minister Coveney’s plans go, the most eye-catching proposals are the ones around first-time buyers. It appears there will be a tax break for this group of up to the €20,000.
This may be seen as an attempt to circumvent the Central Bank rules that say a house buyer must have 20% of the value of the house saved before obtaining a mortgage.
A source close to Mr Coveney said Minister Noonan was receptive to the idea. However, the MoS has learned that senior figures at the Department of Finance were ‘upset’ that the proposals hadn’t been fully thrashed out with Fianna Fáil.
A source at the department added: ‘The housing one is a little more complicated, they are trying to keep a lot of that off balance sheet. But whatever portion of that plan is Exchequer funded would have to be discussed with the minister.’
‘It’s a total row over nothing’