Oireachtas insiders believe that Housing Minister James Browne is the worst performing TD in the Cabinet, exclusive research by Newstalk has revealed.
The Newstalk Insider Poll surveyed TDs, Senators, former Oireachtas members, political advisors and correspondents between the 21st and 28th of April.
Minister James Browne was voted worst performing Minister by 57% of respondents, with the next nearest being Arts Minister Patrick O’Donovan at 10%.
On The Pat Kenny Show, Political Correspondent Seán Defoe set out the methodology behind the research.
“We’ve done polling of TDs and Senators before but I wanted to get a sense from other people who are in and around making the actual decisions,” he said.
“I spoke to advisors, I spoke to political correspondents, I spoke to former members of the Oireachtas as well.
“They all pooled into this and it was done on a pro rata basis, based on what percentage they got on the last election.
“So, I spoke to more Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin people than Soc Dems and Labour, for example.”
Leinster House. Picture by: Alamy.com.Seán added that during his conversation, it was “pretty clear” that most people had a poor opinion of Minister, although many were clear that it is “early days” for him.
“This Government hasn’t introduced any real legislation, we haven’t had committees, so picking best and worst is a little bit harder on that front,” Seán said.
“He was handed a grenade or hospital pass; Darragh O’Brien exits stage left, going very, very quiet and not getting involved in all of this.
“Somehow between two manifestos, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, they haven’t come up with an idea for the housing sector.
“I have a certain amount of sympathy for him because he is a new minister getting to grips with a very, very large brief and a spotlight that he hasn’t been used to.
“He also hasn’t handled that entirely well; he set up this Housing Activation Officer, got the approval of Cabinet, didn’t do any sort of public press conference afterwards, went on and did one radio show.
“Small things like that and his performance in the media have not been convincing.”
James Browne and Micheál Martin turning the sod on a housing development. Picture by: Government Information Service.When asked who they thought is the Cabinet’s best minister, Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan took 29% of the vote, followed by Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill on 22%.
Seán described Minister O’Callaghan as “the complete opposite” to Minister Browne when it comes to media engagement.
“You couldn’t get him away from a mic in the first few weeks that he was the Justice Minister but gave pretty confident performances,” Seán said.
“There’s something about him, you just know he knows the brief… There’s a general sense that he’s been assured.”
Seán added that Jennifer Carroll MacNeill is “not that far behind him”.
“There’s a perception that she has landed on her feet and is engaging in various different parts of the health sector,” he said.
“There is a perception in Fine Gael of her taking on the likes of the pharmacy unions when it came to HRT and getting that covered.
“So, she’s polling well at the minute.”
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. Picture by: Newstalk.When asked who they thought would be the next Taoiseach would be, excluding Simon Harris and Mary Lou McDonald, 35% said Minister Carroll MacNeill, 20% nominated Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers, while 12.5% voted for Minister O’Callaghan.
Main image: James Browne. Picture by: Alamy.com.
