Nama neutrals might have thought that a plan conceived by the highly experienced economist Dr Peter Bacon, and supported by the academic economist who predicted the property market collapse, Dr Alan Ahearn, might have a slim chance of working.

But there was an abrupt withering of any green shoots of optimism when a third economic eminence grise, and the very man under whose auspices the toxic bank plan is to be framed and operated, the National Treasury Management Agency's Dr Michael Somers, expressed his reservations about it in a manner that was the stuff of nightmare.

Somers' performance – for that is what it was – at the Dáil Public Accounts Committee underscored everything that is perilous about this plan, not just in its conception but in its execution. It was a very public two-fingered gesture at the minister for finance, Brian Lenihan, and it has frightened the life out of everyone.

Somers is Ireland's highest-paid civil servant and one of the most important in the land. Of course, as is the way of things in this country these days, the little matter of his salary is not for plebeian taxpayers to know. Only patrician members of the ruling class are privy to that sort of information, but rumours of a million a year are probably not greatly exaggerated.

After his contribution to the Nama debate, it feels as if he is worth his weight in gold. Delivered in that smooth, autocratic air that senior bankers adopt, Somers has exposed the raw incompetence of this government to the public eye, and while the news is extremely bad, it almost feels better that at least we know now.

If the stakes were not so high, it would be the stuff of a sitcom. He is the man who must oversee the working out of as much as €90bn worth of bad loans through the new agency.

He has no experience or expertise in this area, and neither does the NTMA. He has no idea what sort of legislation is being planned; he has no staff, nor any notion as to how he is going to hire them in sufficient numbers or with the precise expertise that this kind of perilous undertaking needs.

In the meantime, now that they know what is being planned for them, developers are lining up at the Four Courts looking for legal advice on how to shelter their assets. The state will be tied up in legal wrangles from here to eternity.

Labour justice spokesman Pat Rabbitte has said some developers are even moving "good loans" to foreign banks to keep them out of Nama's reach, leaving more of the toxic dross for the taxpayer to work through.

Brian Lenihan has tried to limit the damage by portraying Somers as a man who was simply outlining the difficulties we face, reiterating again that we need the banks to deal with their toxic debt now so that they can start functioning again.

But there is no debate, no attempt to assuage fears by detailing the well-oiled, synchronised, practical measures that will swing into action, about which even senior mushrooms like Somers are being kept in the dark.

Instead, we continue with what is looking increasingly like a reckless, unplanned leap into a void. There may be a safety net somewhere down that black hole that will bounce our economy back up again, but then again, there may not.

It has become a hallmark of this government that every fresh idea or plan ends up hobbled by incompetence. Last week, between the mishandling of the Monageer investigation and the Nama fiasco, was no different.

The government knew that a plan to clean out the banks was needed more than six months ago.

Yet instead of drafting legislation and having it ready to go in time for the announcement, it has dragged out its implementation, leaving the banks, the developers and even the organisations charged with delivering the service in the dark.

The coalition's collapse in the latest Irish Times/TNS mrbi poll – just one in 10 now has confidence in the government, Fianna Fáil support is at 21% and Brian Cowen's satisfaction rating is a lowly 18% – fully reflects how disgusted the electorate feels.

Attempts by justice minister Dermot Ahern to portray the collapse as some sort of noble badge of honour – as "paying the price" for taking "tough decisions" because "courting popularity is not on the government's agenda" – border on the delusional.

The disarray within the Fianna Fáil party, now facing electoral meltdown on 5 June, is becoming a pressure cooker that soon Brian Cowen will not be able to contain.

Open moves towards a leadership heave are still unthinkable, but Fianna Fáil backbenchers are in a quandary. They know that to appoint one leader as taoiseach is acceptable; to appoint two without going to the people is unthinkable. It would prompt a general election at a time when the party is at its lowest ebb.

Every day, in every way, this government becomes more and more exposed. And its unpopularity is not a result of making the tough right decisions. There is a chest-tightening fear that we are heading further and further from the 5% medium-term growth the Economic and Social Research Institute predicted (if the right decisions are made) and moving instead into a Japanese-style "lost decade" of zombie banks and social stagnation.

The eggs thrown by pensioner Gary Keogh at AIB chairman Dermot Gleeson were only the start of it. The fact that that was treated as something of a joke was dangerous. When 21-year-olds start throwing more than eggs, will we be as indulgent?