Next Dáil will have to prioritise public sector accountability - Troy

Fianna Fail’s position as the party with the greatest number of seats in the Dáil must be reflected in the make-up of the cabinet and the division of junior ministries. That’s the view of Deputy Robert Troy, who is returning to Leinster House for his fourth consecutive term as a TD representing Longford Westmeath.

“All parties must be respected for the mandate they received,” he told the Westmeath Examiner. “We’ve had a successful election and I think the onus is on us now to lead the next government. We have worked well [with Fine Gael] and we’ve achieved a lot. There’s more to achieve and I think we will be able to work out an ambitious programme for government based on our ability to work together over the last four and a half years.”

Deputy Troy has strong views on what he’d like to see in a programme of government: “What we really need to see and what hasn’t happened over the long period of time of both parties in government is a comprehensive reform of how our public services are run. We need to introduce accountability across the public service. “It’s not there at the moment, and because of that, many services may not be at a level where they should be, despite the resources put into them. We need to be able to bring in reforms.

“I’m talking about accountability at senior public service level. It’s next to impossible for somebody to be dismissed. Not only that, we have a situation where when somebody does their annual appraisal, they’re either performing satisfactorily or unsatisfactorily. We’ve reduced the grading of how someone is weighted on annual performance. I don’t think that offers the foundation for a good, efficient public service. There are many good things happening in our public service but what we don’t have is accountability.”

Meeting people on the campaign trail, Deputy Troy says certain issues were raised “countless times”.

“Mental health, disabilities, early intervention for children, despite additional money being put towards those in the last five years, we’re not reaping the benefits we should be. Also, people looking to access those services are not seeing the improvements and that needs to change. I published a policy document on loneliness in the summer. Again, it’s an area that I want to see prioritised by this government.”

Looking at government make-up, Deputy Troy says stability is key. “We only need two for a majority or six or seven or eight for a more stable majority. It could be the Social Democrats, it could be Labour, regional independents, rural independents, it could be Independents for Ireland.

“There’s five or six different groupings that could make up the difference. I think what’s important is not just numbers, it’s who can we rely on that will support the policies we’re going to introduce, will provide stability and not threaten to collapse the government every couple of months for political expedience.”

Regarding Sinn Féin, Deputy Troy says FF worked well with Fine Gael in the previous government and he sees “no need” for his party to enter discussions with SF.

“Why start talking to another party where there are notable differences in relation to economic policy. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have seen their seats in the Dáil increase. We’ve worked well together. I think it would be foolhardy not to negotiate with them and see can we establish an ambitious programme for government.”