And they're off

As Fianna Fáil regrouped in Co Cavan, Brian Cowen defended the Government's record on spending and backbenchers remained mute. Eoin Ó Murchú reports from there. Over the page: Colin Murphy on Bertie's guru Robert Putnam; and Village gives Bertie tips on how to improve his social capital

Fianna Fáil went on the offensive against their critics this week with a blistering attack by finance minister Brian Cowen on accusations that the Government was careless in its management of major infrastructural projects.

The minister was taking the opportunity of Fianna Fáil's parliamentary party think-in at the Slieve Russell hotel in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, to round on the party's critics and "set the record straight."

The Opposition, he claimed, were if not dishonest at least disingenuous in relation to the figures they produced. For example, he said, the Dublin port tunnel was never envisaged coming in at €200m. It is too easy to pick an initial ballpark figure suggested before a project is actually finalised in terms of what is wanted, and then to compare that with the actual cost.

"It's like building a house," he said. "If I decide in 1994 to build a three-bedroomed house and am told it will cost about €30,000, I can't turn round when I actually build a six-bedroomed house in 2004 and complain that the price is higher."

He claimed that what has to be compared is the price tendered for when the contract is put out, and the final cost. In almost all cases, he said, these major infrastructural projects, like roads, are coming in on time or before schedule, and within budget.

The minister claimed that three reports, Fitzpatrick, Indecon and the one from the Comptroller and Auditor General, all agree that "in general there is good management by the Government." The minister also claimed that, with €36 billion being spent on such developments, the scale of what is being done is way outside any previous experience, but that initial management problems were now well settled.

The names of Eddie Hobbs, or the Rip Off Republic programme, were never mentioned, but it was clear that the minister was anxious to counter the negative impact of that programme on public perceptions of the Government's performance.

This, indeed, was a constant refrain during the two-day session in Ballyconnell, with the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern emphasising that our economic performance remained solid and the envy of Europe. And both the Taoiseach and minister Cowen emphasised their argument that the foundation stone of our economic success was the policy of social partnership.

Here again, the opposition came in for sustained attack. "We don't need a New Departure from Social Partnership," he said, referring to the joint statement issued by Fine Gael and Labour in Mullingar. "We need to maintain and intensify that partnership, and that will not be done by reneging on the benchmarking awards to the public service."

At the same time, the minister was keen to lay down a marker for the next round of social partnership discussions by emphasising that improved productivity, in the public sector as well as in the private sector, was the key to providing us with the wealth we need to pay for the services we want.

This formula was in tune, of course, with the main themes of this year's conference – using social capital to improve the quality of life for the people of Ireland.

IIn practical terms the Government recognises that the problems of Dublin's extended commuter belts in Meath, Kildare, Wicklow and even Westmeath can impinge negatively on the Government's prospects in the next election. However, the main Opposition criticism is one of competence rather than any suggestion of a different policy, with Fine Gael fully backing the principle of the road building programme.

There were strong indications, therefore, that this investment would be intensified in the next budget, along with a major improvement in the rail network in the outer suburban Dublin area. Minister Cowen was airily dismissive of Green concerns over this policy.

But what of the disparities in the levels of economic development? At the concluding press conference I queried whether the West was getting sufficient attention, at a time when Donegal in particular, had been hit hard by devastating job losses.

But enterprise minister Mícheál Martin argued that even in the West job creation was outstripping job losses, and the government was narrowing the gap between the BMW region (Border, Midlands, West) and the South and East region.

Galway is a shining example of achievement, he claimed, and the problems in Donegal were that the county had been too dependent on old-style manufacturing. Bluntly, he warned that the Government was not in the business of competing for low-wage jobs with Eastern Europe.

The essential strategy, he said, was to build up knowledge-based indigenous companies, but conceded that infrastructural investment was badly needed in the North West, with issues like broadband at the top of the agenda. The joint programme with the British government of developing Derry airport was also part of the strategy.

And for those who have just lost their jobs, he warned that there are no quick fix solutions. It will take time.

But time is something the Government doesn't have. Fears in the West that the economy is more fragile than the government claims are matched in the East by a growing frustration with the price of houses, the hours spent commuting to work, the crippling cost of child care and the unresolved problems of the health service.

But once again Brian Cowen went on the offensive. He praised Mícheál Martin's achievements in health, especially in the cardiac and cancer treatment sectors, in social health provision and other areas, while conceding that major problems still exist in A&E. "These problems, however," he said, "should not obscure the major improvements which sustained investment by this Government have brought about."

He attacked Fine Gael's Richard Bruton for asserting that the investment had made no difference. "This is just untrue," he said, "and is an insult to the public service workers who have made tangible improvements that are there to see for all who want to see them."

However, the main residual problem in reforming the health service, he claimed, was the powerful vested interests of the consultants. They think they own the service, he said, and are refusing to sit down and discuss a programme of necessary reform. But, "in a democracy such as ours," he claimed, "no one has a democratic right to refuse to discuss reform."

The consultants have been quick to strike back, claiming that the government has ignored their concerns over staffing levels. But Cowen argues that demanding extra consultants on the same conditions as presently apply is not reform but "more jobs for the boys".

The issue of childcare was a significant factor in the two recent by-elections in Kildare North and Meath, both of which the Government lost. But there will be no quick-fix on this issue either. Maureen Gaffney, chairwoman of the National Economic and Social Forum, told the assembled Fianna Fáilers that our state spending on child care was the lowest in the OECD, at 0.2 per cent below even that of Poland.

But Minister of State, Brian Lenihan, was quick to point out that it is the Celtic Tiger that gave such an explosive expansion of the workforce, with more and more women working full-time in the economy. "We are 55 years behind the more developed states, like those in Scandinavia," he said, "and we are playing catch-up." But he boasted, "this Government began the process of addressing child care and the purpose of the conference consideration of the issue was to ensure that a comprehensive viable package could be put together."

The implication from his and minister Cowen's words is that the next budget will reveal this package which will probably be a combination of tax relief and direct state investment, probably on an incremental basis, in the child care sector.

What was particularly noticeable about the conference, however, was the absence of griping from backbenchers, which is normally a feature of these events. There is concern about the problems that Fianna Fáil is facing from the electorate, but generally a belief that the emphasis on a socially concerned policy is the way forward.

Time will, however, tell, whether the government's answers to their critics strike a note with the electorate, and most importantly whether real progress on the key issues of health, education and transport can be seen by the electorate in time for the general election of 2007.p

Eoin Ó Murchú is the Eagraí Polaitíochta of RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta. He is writing here in a personal capacity