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Our man in Merrion Street
New Minister for Finance speaks to Community Voice

Brian Lenihan’s career is very much one with an orientation towards legal matters – he practised as a senior counsel and law lecturer in Trinity College. His appointment last year as Minister for Justice was seen by most commentators as an unusually appropriate one – a case the right man in the right job.

The recent decision by the new Taoiseach, Brian Cowen to appoint the Dublin 15 TD to the top job of Minister for Finance took most people by surprise.

In his first newspaper interview following his appointment, Brian Lenihan spoke to Community Voice at his offices in Merrion Street. He agreed that most of the political pundits had got it wrong this time. “It’s fair to say that in the weeks following the resignation of Bertie Ahern, there was much speculation that I would retain the Department of Justice while also becoming Tánaiste,” he said.

“I had good times in the Department of Justice and I got a lot of work done there. However Brian Cowen discussed the matter with me at length and expressed his view that as Finance was the second most important job in the Government and felt that the Minister should be from a Dublin constituency. The balance he wants in his cabinet would be best reflected if Finance was represented by a Dublin minister,” said Mr. Lenihan.

So was his appointment to the top cabinet post based on his ability to handle the finance portfolio or because he might be perceived as a safe Brian Cowen man? “Not so,” said the Minister. “I supported Brian Cowen in the succession to Bertie Ahern but he would not be a close social friend – more a political friend.”

Minister Lenihan is however quite comfortable with his new brief. “While my own background is a lawyer’s one, I did lecture in commercial law and in fact my grandfather was a tax Inspector. I also have a good awareness of economic and social issues as any good politician should.

“When I was Minister for Children, I served in three departments–justice, education and health. These were three of the biggest spending departments in government and I was involved in all three so I got quite a lot of experience of their workings. In any case Finance is not a book keeping job but one that’s about political economics,” he said.

While he is at pains to stress that his job is one of looking after the national finances, there is no doubt that having a Minister for Finance representing Dublin 15 will undoubtedly have benefits for the area. Mr. Lenihan is proud of the progress that has been made in his constituency in the past decade. “Dublin 15 has developed hugely and in economic terms is at the cutting edge of modern Ireland,” he says. “It is the biggest hub for inward investment in Ireland and the biggest magnet for jobs in the whole country. Nowhere in Ireland has achieved a higher investment in jobs in the past 10 years and yet despite the recent downturn there have been no net job losses in Dublin 15.”

With the huge house building programme that has taken place in the area in the past number of years, the Minister is bullish about local property values. “Given that Dublin 15 is such a magnet for job creation, due to its proximity to the airport and its existing high profile businesses, it is not surprising that it is also a magnet for housing growth,” he said.

He concedes that “nationally, the housing market has become overheated in recent years. We built 80,000 units in 2006 which was unsustainable. However in Dublin 15 rental values have remained strong because of the high level of employment in the area and the consequent number of people coming to live near that employment.”

The new Minister also agrees that “as we face the current international credit crunch, it’s not the most exciting time to become a Minister for Finance. As Minister I would aim to tweak the economy to continue playing to its strengths. I will certainly be keeping the National Development Plan (NDP) as a central plank in that. Transport and education are the two key issues.”

Bearing in mind that transport and education are also two of the key issues affecting most residents in Dublin 15, can local residents expect any respite here from the new Minister? Surely he should be able to twist an arm here or there at the cabinet table to get a better deal for his constituency? “I am not going to get into the game of making promises solely for my own constituency,” he says.

However, reading between the lines, it is clear that some local projects may well move more smoothly and expeditiously in the coming months. When asked about such projects that have been stalled due to education cutbacks such as the sports hall for Castleknock Community College or the extension and upgrading previously promised for St. Brigid's national school in Castleknock, he stresses “there have been no cutbacks, only delays and I will be examining matters to see if those delays are affecting our infrastructure nationally.”

However he continues “educational infrastructure is vitally important and I would be concerned to ensure that all programmes are expedited.” One suspects that the new Minister for Education, Batt O’Keeffe may well be hearing about some the importance of some local Dublin 15 projects in the very near future.

The first big test of the Minister will come later this year when he has to prepare his first budget.

“Realistically when you start to prepare your budget you find that much of your costs are already pre-determined particularly in areas such as payroll costs, so you have only so much that you can work with. Current expenditure is a priority. We must impose a discipline on our current expenditure for instance by agreeing to wage restraint.”

Most economists point to the fact that under Bertie Ahern’s administration, the public sector and the consequent wage bill has grown exponentially. Will the new Minister be looking to reverse this trend?

According to Mr. Lenihan, “at last year’s Glenties summer school I spoke about the ongoing proliferation of state and semi-state agencies in this country. There are too many different agencies and groupings and this is leading to a lack of joined up thinking. The problem that is becoming very clear to me is the rigidity in our public service. Staff should be able to move in and out of department developing their skills and experience rather than setting up specialist agencies and consultancies for every task.”

Having been something of a slow starter politically, Brian Lenihan is now very much on the fast track to the top. Does he see himself being in the frame for the position of Taoiseach in the future?

After quick consideration, he says “it is in a politician’s interest to do the job he is asked to do. I have always concentrated on doing my job and not looking ahead. Those who spend their time looking ahead usually stumble and fall. You should only kick the ball that is at your feet.”

He is also confident that Fianna Fáil will continue in government for a long time to come. “At the next general election the opposition will have to up their game substantially,” he says. “The Labour Party under Eamonn Gilmore are involved in constructive opposition. However Fine Gael are involved in destructive opposition. That’s why they are in trouble. Politics is about more than sound bites, slogans and destructive abuse.”

Finally he suggested the differences we can expect between the governing styles of Brian Cowen compared to his predecessor. “Joe Higgins described arguing with Bertie Ahern as being like playing handball against a haystack. The opposition will find out quickly that arguing with Brian Cowen is more like playing handball with a very formidable handballer.”

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