A GOVERNMENT MINISTER has described how she was “taken aback by the negative narrative” around the government’s record on managing the economy to help deliver critical infrastructure.

Chief Whip and Minister for Mental Health Mary Butler told RTÉ Radio One’s Saturday with Cormac Ó hEadhra that criticism of the government needs to take into account how Ireland has the “highest life expectancy across the EU, is at full employment and how it has “bounced back to challenges from Brexit, Covid and Ukraine”.

It followed criticism on the same show by business economist Sinead O’Sullivan who pointed to problems facing people in their daily lives, such as sitting in traffic to struggles in the health service.

She said this was down to state failures to coordinate the economy to transform infrastructure and improve people’s lives.

O’Sullivan told the programme:

Everybody in their own life has ample examples of frustration and pent-up anger at the inability of the state to do anything, but yet we’re told that we are incredibly wealthy and the economy is doing incredibly well so there is this massive disconnect.

In response, Butler said that there has to be “balance” in any discussion on the government’s economic performance.

“I’m actually a little taken aback by the negative narrative I’ve listened to for the last ten minutes,” the Waterford TD added.

She disagreed with the “very negative” assessment by O’Sullivan, saying that anyone who listened along could mistakenly believe “we’re living in a third world country”.

However, Butler added that she agreed that the government has to “deliver more and better public services” for the country.

“That’s accepted across all of government, and as a government we have made decisions to ensure that as well as everyday expenditure to improve services in the here and now, we have to be able to react as we did in recent weeks,” Butler said, pointing to the recent package of more than €500 million following the fuel protests.

Butler also cited upcoming critical infrastructure legislation that aims to deliver major projects with greater ease.

Also appearing on the programme was Sinn Féin’s health spokesperson David Cullinane who said the minister was “defensive” and that the government needed to recognise the “simmering anger” among the public.

The Waterford TD added that “political authority was outsourced” to the Deptment of Public Expenditure – formed after the economic crash – resulting in what he claimed was “too much power” now potentially residing with officials in that section of the civil service.

When it was put to Cullinane by presenter Ó hEadhra that O’Sullivan, the economist, believed that the opposition parties would similarly struggle to solve the major issues, he argued that the “biggest trick the government could pull on the electorate was to convince them that problems can’t be solved”.

Labour TD Ciaran Ahern told the programme that a lack of resourcing, expertise and planning is to blame for too many major projects, such as energy, failing to progress in a timely fashion.

Ahern added that civil servants need to be held “accountable” for failings on major projects and face losing their current job in that department.

The Dublin South-West TD said this would mean “people being performance managed” and “getting removed from roles” as a consequence.

“If people aren’t performing in their jobs, yes, there have to be consequences,” Ahern said.

It can’t necessarily always being sidetracked into another role, you’re either suitable or you’re not for your job.

But the Labour deputy said that the “people in these institutions are not the problem”, with the fault lying with the government instead.

In particular, Ahern claimed, a lack of underlying strategy lies in the government’s reliance on Independents who are “all looking for little goodies for their own constituency”.

In response to Ahern’s criticisms, Butler said that she does not accept that there is a lack of expertise or a lack of vision in the government.

The government is instead trying to “stop thinking about the latest budgetary cycle”, as she pointed to figures showing the risks facing Ireland due to its ageing population.

“There are four people working for every pensioner in Ireland – in 20 years’ time there will be only two people working for every pensioner in Ireland,” Butler said.

“We have to look to the future as well to protect our people.”