Taoiseach Brian Cowen: no public admonition

Two members of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party resigned the whip last week. Those of us who do not operate in the political world may think the greatest test of a government's resolve in tough times is public opinion. It is not. When the economic and socioeconomic picture is challenging, the biggest difficulty any government will face is from within, particularly in Ireland where the preponderance of parochial thinking is staggering, even in the 21st century.

This government knew, when it set about tackling unacceptable levels of public expenditure – with the public payroll out of control and the financial system in complete disarray – that it would face all sorts of pressure from different stake-holders. The unions have already flexed their muscles. Many within the professions have asserted what they always see as their special status. Agencies and a wide variety of different business organisations have explained why they should be protected from the most severe fiscal measures.

Friends within politics have long told me that none of this will have been of great concern to Brian Cowen and his senior colleagues in government. Interestingly, these same people would have suggested that the Greens and some of the less experienced Fianna Fáil members of cabinet might be suffering deep anxiety on account of the pressure from these different groups and from the general media onslaught. Not so with Brian Cowen, Mary Harney, Dermot Ahern and the like, I was told. Their focus would have been exclusively on what might unfold within the government parties. Cowen, in particular, would know that his government's longevity would be determined by the strength of the Green's resolve and the commitment of Fianna Fáil backbenchers to the programme of change.

So it is that last week's decision by two Fianna Fáil backbenchers to resign the party whip is so significant? It is not just that the numbers within the Dáil are so dramatically changed by their decision. There is the danger that it could usher in a trend in which strong political leadership will be undermined by the lack of backbone at local level. This is the weakness inherent in our system of government. The decision of Jimmy Devins and Eamon Scanlon to resign the whip represents the ultimate in putting local interests ahead of the national need. This kind of approach is the complete antithesis of what being a representative in a national parliament should be about and it inhibits government from acting in the national interest.

The facts are pretty clear. Within our beleaguered health system it was decided by various experts that we needed to rationalise the provision of certain vital services in order to improve the overall service to patients. Cancer treatment was a priority. An Irish consultant who had been working with considerable success in British Columbia on the revision of its cancer services was persuaded by Mary Harney to review our approach to cancer care and recommend how we should best address our needs.

In short, his recommendation was that the services in 20 different centres should be slimmed down to provide eight national centres of excellence. This meant closures, including the breast cancer treatment centre in Sligo, and hence the decision of its two local Fianna Fáil TDs to resign.

How can government expect to function when people like Jimmy Devins and Eamon Scanlon are prepared to play to the local gallery rather than act as committed national parliamentarians? This is a most serious development. As taxpayers, we have supported the introduction of different health budgets including that which funded the review of our national approach to cancer treatment.

An eminent and experienced professional was hired to advise on how the system should be revised. One assumes that at the heart of the recommendations was an approach that would improve the treatment of those already suffering with cancer and help introduce a means of increasing prevention and early diagnosis. We all paid for this work to be done.

The vast majority of health professionals – including those involved in the provision of care to cancer sufferers – support the new plan. But two local TDs want an exception made in their home town. When this was quite properly refused by the taoiseach, they resigned the whip, making it more difficult for the government to do its job in these extraordinarily difficult economic circumstances.

The taoiseach's public response was brief and to the point. In so far as it indicated that his government had in recent weeks clearly ignored the threat of the resignations, this should be cause for relief, but the lack of any public admonition is regrettable. Cowen should have taken the opportunity to warn that, whatever the tensions in the public sector and in the trade unions about difficult decisions in the offing, he will have no truck with those within Fianna Fáil who put local ahead of national interests. Cowen, after all, represents a local community himself, so he could hardly be accused of taking an elitist view.

As a doctor, Jimmy Devins' behaviour is particularly lamentable. It is hard for most private citizens to understand how the work of our national legislature can still be influenced by such parochial attitudes. We know this country is facing into what is likely to be its greatest-ever challenge and that getting our economy and our society back into a reasonably healthy state is at least a five-year programme.

It would be interesting to see if there is one single member of the opposition parties who would agree and would publicly challenge the "defectors" to explain the inconsistency and irresponsibility of their actions. It would be a tremendously brave and sophisticated move. It would also be correct.