Prior to his imminent trade mission with the Taoiseach to Japan this weekend, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise and Trade John Mc Guinness took some time out to discuss the Irish economy, the public sector, Beverley Cooper Flynn, local elections, local government and more with the Kilkenny Advertiser.
Minister McGuinness speaks with conviction when he talks about the love he has for his job and the belief that he should be available to his constituents and act as a representative for them in Leinster House.
“My constituency office door is always open and on a Saturday I could have 30 people at my clinic. Although I have a lot of other work as a junior minister, this is a big part of my job and I love it,” he says.
However, he also admits that although most political representatives are hardworking and do all they can for their constituents, there is room for improvement in the Oireachtas - particularly in the Senate.
“I believe that TDs and Senators could be made more effective if we modernise and empower them by legislation. I have a doubt about the Senate and believe that there is room for a whole load of improvement. It could be a lot more worth while and valuable if they (senators ) were given the opportunity. The Senate could become much more meaningful if given appropriate powers.”
Public sector paycuts
Minister McGuinness has himself taken a 10 per cent pay cut and he believes that others should follow suit - particularly those in top-end jobs in the public sector.
“I’ve given up 10 per cent of my salary,” he said “and I think that every member of the Oireachtas should also forfeit 10 per cent. Also those in the public sector that benefited from huge increases in benchmarking should do likewise. The only people that should not be affected are the lower paid and those include clerical officers, those starting off in the public sector and nurses, teachers and Gardai who are the front-line people and the band-aid holding our system together. These people should not be touched.”
He added that it is necessary to look at middle-management roles in the public sector and he reiterated the comments that he made last year in an address to the Beverage Council of Ireland where he said that ‘public service culture destroys ambition and resists change’.
“We need to open up public sector jobs to the private sector and ensure that we are getting the best people for the jobs. Hiring from within is not acceptable anymore and interviews should be carried out by both members of the public and private sector and the best person should then be chosen on merit.”
Local government
Minister McGuinness was also critical of local government and in particular the housing department of Kilkenny Local Authorities.
“There certainly are inefficiencies. I know for a fact that there are 25 local authority houses vacant in Kilkenny and in some cases, boarded up. I also know that there are 1,000 people on the housing list. This is unacceptable. The application form to apply for a local authority house is 20 pages long - this is inefficient. There is a lack of rent from the vacant homes and this is inefficient. The house is devalued while it is vacant and the estate is devalued. All of these points are inefficiencies. We do not have a pro-active system and therefore have houses vacant for long periods of time,” he said exasperated.
Beverley Cooper Flynn
On the issue of the special allowance paid to FF TD Beverley Cooper Flynn, the minister was unequivocally opposed to her keeping the €41,000 allocated to her from Government that she was entitled to an Independent TD.
“There is no argument - she should have given it back. It is obvious that she should not have draws it. In saying that it must be pointed out that she would not be doing any wrong by accepting it - but morally I think she had to give it up and she has. However, I think there is a need to clarify the anomaly in legislation and as a legislator herself Beverley Cooper Flynn should realise that this is an anomaly,” he said.
Lisbon Treaty
The Lisbon Treaty is a bone of contention once again and the question on everybody’s tongue is, is it democratic to re-run a vote on the issue.
“ I think it is absolutely democratic to re-run a vote on Lisbon. The first time it was run, the decision was made on issues such as abortion and conscription and neutrality. People now realise that these are not the issues of Lisbon. Since the treaty was defeated Ireland has not been central to decision-making in Europe. I go to the EU on trade missions and the reception I get is cold. The EU is right to be angry as we didn’t educate the people properly on Lisbon and then it was defeated.
“Now we have answers for people and therefore people have a democratic right to go back and vote again. People have got clarification. It needs to be noted that Europe is central to Ireland and the future of Ireland is within Europe as we are seen as a gateway to Europe. I hope people will vote yes next time.”
Local elections
Fianna Fail will have a struggle in the up-coming local elections according to Minister McGuinness, who is well aware of the bad press following the publication of the budget and the antics of the staff at the government agency FAS which were highlighted in recent times.
“We’ll knock on doors and fight for every vote as usual” said Minister McGuinness. We can show the value of our candidates who are deeply rooted in local community politics. “
Of his son Andrew who took over from him when the dual mandate was introduced on the borough council - he said that he hopes he will do well in the local elections.
“I hope people will look upon Andrew as a person making a contribution and someone who is good for the community and a good local leader,” he concluded.
