a lot bit more to do

Maybe we've been fooled a bit by all the Fianna Fáil hype and spin yesterday, but just so we're clear - Bertie is still the Taoiseach for the next few weeks!

I reckon we'll have all the time in the world after "B-day" to judge the stewardship of Mr Cowen, be it good or bad.

As far as I'm concerned, once he had a bank account all his adult life, never looked for a dig-out as Minister for Finance and isn't wanted by any Tribunal, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. FOR NOW.

So maybe instead of bickering about Cowen's past record as minister or how well or poorly he'll perform in the big chair, why don't we focus on the so-called legacy of the chap who's shoes he's filling?

There are three over-riding points I want to make with regard to Bertie, and they have to do with the economy, health and benchmarking.

Fianna Fáil-ers everywhere will brag until the cows come home about how Bertie's government led this country through a period of prosperity, so I presume by association we're supposed to believe it's all down to them. OK, that's fine. But what about now, when things are getting a bit rough?

Well according to Brian Lenihan (surely favourite for Tánaiste since Cowen asked him to be his proposer for party leader) speaking to George Hook yesterday evening, the downturn in the economy is actually the fault of the "international banking crisis".

So to summarize, fellow Irish voters, FF are happy to take credit for the good times yet they expect us to believe there were external factors in the bad ones. As I have said time and time again about this shower, if we believe that, we deserve everything we get.

As for health, I've done my fair share of criticizing Mary Harney over the years (only after initially applauding her bravery at assuming the role), but now Bertie is stepping down, the question has to be asked - why don't we include him in accountability for the failings of the Health Service? Does the Ministry for Health and Children somehow magically fall outside his remit just because it's being run by someone from a different party? The answer is no.

And as for the Taoiseach-in-waiting's assertion that anyone criticizing the health service must be satisfied with the "status quo" I'd wonder who exactly he thought was responsible for that status quo having been in power for more years than we care to remember?

Finally, benchmarking for me is like pregnancy, and NOT just because it has to do with labour. You can't have a little bit of benchmarking. You either have one deal that operates across the spectrum of public service unions or you have individual deals that result in a perpetual increase in wages as one union cries foul about something promised to another.

Since Bertie has been taking credit for the so-called public partnerships, the unions have one by one tinkered with the agreement with their own little provisos, and as far as I'm concerned, once there was a slight deviation from the original deal, it is no longer benchmarking, which in turn means that no praise can be heaped in anyone's direction - if anything, the whole process was a waste of time, energy and most of all, our money.

Now there WERE good aspects of Bertie's reign and I WILL cover them on my blog before he steps down, it's just that with all the feel-good factor flowing from Fianna Fáil's spin-fest yesterday I felt the need to add a little perspective.