Dizzying U-turn season rolls on with flip-flop on guillotines

SKETCH:AND THE U-turn of the day is . . . guillotines. There have been a few, U-turns that it.

First out was the commitment to cut the number of junior ministers to 12. Funnily enough, there are still 15 of them.

Great and repeated fanfare was made of the plan to renegotiate the EU-IMF deal – and that of course has been such a great success. A pledge not to increase college registration fees is probably best currently described as being in the bend of the U-turn.

Then there was the staunch Labour Party promise that there would be no water charges. Promises, promises.

And now it’s guillotines.

Fine Gael and Labour railed and raged in Opposition against guillotines or time limits being put on debates and assured everyone they would hold true to their opposition to such ghastly constraints.

Indeed, only last week Independent TD Shane Ross referred to “possibly the most important Bill” to come before the Dáil thus far – the Finance (No 2) Bill – and asked if the Government had plans to curtail discussion and “guillotine it within one day”.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore told him it “is not intended to guillotine it”. Famous last words. The Bill was guillotined to be completed by 5.30pm.

Fianna Fáil’s Éamon Ó Cuív wanted to know the “overriding urgency”. Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said it was “absolutely inexcusable” that the Coalition, “vociferously opposed” to guillotines in Opposition, should now start imposing them.

The unkindest cut, however, came from Socialist Joe Higgins. The Government was becoming “continuity Fianna Fáil”, he said with asperity. However, Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn, taking the Order of Business for the first time, insisted the Bill was “urgently needed” to give effect to the €500 million job creation programme.

There had already been an extensive debate on the “policy content”, he insisted, and the tourism industry was waiting for the VAT reduction to 9 per cent.

“Jobs are a priority for this administration and we make no apology to anybody for that,” he opined. He need not have bothered. The irony of it all was that the Bill was done and dusted, including several votes, by 4.10pm, more than an hour ahead of the scheduled guillotine.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan later appeared to be softening everyone up for another, much more significant, U-turn. Between this year and next, there will be budget cuts of just under €10 billion. “A huge amount of money,” as the Minister said himself during the debate on the Bill. So with that in mind, “I will not rule out any tax initiative, increase or reduction. I say this at a level of principle. I have nothing in mind.”

Fianna Fáil’s Michael McGrath asked, reasonably enough, if those initiatives included income tax. He was smartly told “we’re moving away from the content of the Bill” – by the Minister who introduced the move.

Mr Noonan then added that he should consult the programme for government for the principles “on which we base our tax approach”. Curiouser and curiouser. When the budget comes around in December, what number U-turn will we be at?