CABINET IN TURMOIL
Ministers afraid to reject the advice of civil servants Concerns over tough public health measures ignored Lockdown stress affecting caretaker Government
SEVERAL Ministers have spoken of cracks in Cabinet unity, growing enmity between politicians and senior civil servants over Covid-19, and their personal pressures during lockdown in a series of briefings to the Irish Mail on Sunday.
In incendiary language, one minister spoke of his concern that Ireland is turning into a ‘police state’.
There is fear in Government that too much power has been ceded by politicians to senior civil servants in the formulation of emergency restrictions and their gradual lifting. Cabinet ministers told the MoS that they ‘fear’ making decisions that would overrule advice from officials because of the possible effect on their political reputations and careers.
The cracks in Cabinet come as a new Ireland Thinks poll, revealed exclusively in today’s MoS, shows a big jump in support for the main government party. Fine Gael
is on 36% (+15 points), Sinn Féin 27 (+2), Fianna Fáil 16 (-6), Greens 6 (-1), Labour 4 (No Change), Social Democrats 3 (NC), Solidarity-PBP 2 (NC), Inds and Others 6 (-9).
The results represent a boost for Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and strengthens his hand as he attempts to form a government.
The poll comes as Cabinet members have told the MoS that they resent that powerful civil service committees, making ‘enormous’ decisions on the lockdown, are not subjected to the ‘scrutiny’ that they are.
There are also fissures in Cabinet, with resentment that too much power has been ceded to a Cabinet committee that is running the pandemic response. One minister said that their concerns over the draconian measures are not being listened to and referred to ‘police state’ conditions. Other ministers warn of civil disobedience.
It comes as the latest figures show that 13 more deaths were reported yesterday from Covid-19 related illnesses and there were 76 new cases of the disease, bringing the total deaths in Ireland from the disease to 1,604, with 24,451 cases in total.
Some ministers, under pressure from constituents over the lockdown, spoke of the strain the crisis is putting on them. One said his ‘mental health’ is being affected.
It has been 106 days since the general election on February 8. The first Covid-19 restrictions were imposed on March 12. Now ministers paint a picture of a Cabinet cracking under the strain.
Mr Varadkar has, say colleagues, shown signs of fatigue, but they also said that he seems to be invigorated by being ‘in the thick of it’.
One minister said he is unhappy with the power that has been ceded to a civil servants’ committee that was set up to deal with the bureaucracy of running a State under Covid-19 restrictions.
The Senior Officials Group (SOG) for the Covid-19 Emergency Response is chaired by Liz Canavan, assistant secretary at the Department of the Taoiseach. Ms Canavan briefs the media regularly at the Government Press Centre on Merrion Street.
The SOG reports to the Cabinet committee on Covid-19. This committee is made up of the Taoiseach, Health Minister Simon Harris, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and other ministers and senior officials. Though there has been some criticism of the lack of transparency around the National
Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), which is chaired by Dr Tony Holohan, the SOG has the more important role.
In the Governance Structure for Covid-19 National Response published by the Government, the NPHET reports to SOG, which in turn reports to the Cabinet subcommittee.
The minister said: ‘The Senior Officials Group is effectively the group of powerful civil servants who come forward with ideas. The political system comes under an enormous amount of scrutiny, and rightly so, but these people, pulling all the levers are coming under no scrutiny, it is unbelievable.
‘You can’t get the minutes of an
‘We are afraid of tribunals down the line’
SOG meeting, because it’s protected by Cabinet committee rules, so you can’t get the agenda and you can’t get the papers.’
A spokesman for the Department of the Taoiseach responded to queries from the MoS and said there was a Cabinet subcommittee on every major issue facing the country, from Brexit to climate action, and that the SOG prepares briefings and memos for every Cabinet subcommittee, but the SOG ‘has no decision-making powers’.
‘Decisions are made by the Cabinet, individual ministers, State agency CEOs or boards, depending on the nature of the decision in accordance with the law,’ the spokesman said.
‘The Senior Officials Group ensures that decisions made are implemented by Government departments and agencies. Separately, NPHET is led by the Chief Medical Officer, Tony Holohan, and provides public health advice to the Government and general public.’
The spokesman said ministers are expected to brief the media and public when appropriate.
‘Ms Canavan provides a crosscutting daily information briefing on behalf of the Government as a senior official in the Department of the Taoiseach,’ the spokesman said. ‘There are no plans to change these arrangements at present.’
It was put to ministers who are expressing concern about decisions made by SOG that they have the power to overrule them, as ultimately SOG reports to a Cabinet committee.
One minister gave a chilling answer: ‘We are afraid of tribunals down the line. I’d say what everybody is afraid of, and I’m afraid of it myself, is overruling the advice from the officials. I would have come out stronger or sooner, but I’m afraid, and I’ve discussed this with my wife.
‘The f***ing danger is if we open up the doors now and the next thing we have a surge, and then the officials and the HSE cause a problem for us, and they’re quite capable of it, they accuse us of creating this problem again and [that] we wouldn’t listen to them.’
Another minister admitted that the unprecedented situation, in which Ireland has been run by a ‘caretaker’ Government since the election, has made them reluctant to overrule the civil service.
Last week’s confusion where the Government told homeware stores they could open and then, late in the day, told them they could not, was seen as a crossGovernment failing.
The performance of some ministers in that debacle ‘was f***ing shocking, it was shocking stuff altogether’, a minister said.
One minister warned that he would oppose continuing restrictions on travel when they next come to Cabinet.
The minister used incendiary language: ‘The extension of the powers, restrictions from the 5km and then the 20km, that’s over now. The police state job is over now. Let’s call a spade a spade.’
‘The police state job is over now’
Ministers also told the MoS how they have been feeling the pressures of lockdown themselves.
‘I was depressed the first three weeks, I didn’t want to go out and [have] somebody taking a video of me, but I’m out now I don’t give a f***,’ one said.
‘I did a bit in the town but I walked a good bit around. It’s my mental health I’m worried about, I thought the first three weeks I was going off my head to tell you the truth.’
One minister said: ‘I miss funerals. People might laugh. I’d meet 100 people at them, and then you go into a shop and pub and supermarket. It is a great outlet.’
And a minister spoke of the difficulties of dealing with young relatives.
‘The young buck is nine; he’s gone mental and he can’t have his hair cut and you don’t want to make a b ****** ks out of him with his hair.’