PROFILE: DERMOT McCARTHY:IT IS A cliché of Irish political comment over the years that our elected leaders are often poor quality but our senior civil servants are top class. Yet the two groups have such similar backgrounds that they are almost indistinguishable, except that one is elected, the other appointed.
Perhaps it’s the political system and even democracy itself that holds back our politicians from displaying their true talents whereas the unelected officials in the “permanent Government” are not encumbered in the same way by the claims and clamour of the public.
Although he is arguably the most important civil servant and administrator in the country and a pivotal figure in the process of government, nevertheless if Dermot McCarthy were to walk down Grafton Street in Dublin, few people if any would recognise him.
Like all good civil servants, he does not push himself forward nor seek the limelight. That space belongs to the Taoiseach or Minister of the day. He or she is the one who is ultimately responsible and must take the credit – or the blame – that goes with being in the public eye.
In person however, McCarthy is the antithesis of the faceless bureaucrat with all its connotations. He is an affable and good-humoured individual who likes meeting people and clearly enjoys doing his job.
It’s just as well that he likes the work because there is an awful lot of it and he puts in very long hours. This is particularly true of the Social Partnership process in which he plays a central role.
The concept of Social Partnership is said to have had its origins in a discussion between Charles Haughey, as taoiseach, and then-West German chancellor Helmut Schmidt at a European summit in Brussels in 1982. Schmidt explained to Haughey how he was meeting with employers and trade unionists to agree pay terms for the coming year and that this was the most important event in his political calendar. In due course Haughey transplanted the idea to the Irish industrial scene, and the Programme for National Recovery was born in 1987.
Although Social Partnership has its critics, there are many who say it was a critical element in the economic success we were enjoying until the crisis hit last year. It wasn’t Thatcherism or Reaganism, with right-wing governments putting the boot in on the unions: this was a consensus approach and seen as more appropriate to Irish conditions.
This week’s talks failed to produce an agreement and the Government went on to take unilateral action, but even when announcing the cutbacks Taoiseach Brian Cowen was eager to stress that the process had served the country well in the past and would continue to do so in the future.
Successive civil servants like Pádraig Ó hUiginn and Paddy Teahon have played a key role in Social Partnership but for the past number of years Dermot McCarthy has been the linchpin, the Great Facilitator.
A senior politician who has worked closely with him describes McCarthy as “intellectually very formidable” and a “good draftsman” who is adept at putting the right words on paper to encapsulate a compromise formula.
His role is not, of course, confined to industrial matters and he was closely involved, for example, in the deliberations which led to the Government’s decision to introduce the bank guarantee scheme at the end of September.
The Taoiseach and his Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, were the key political figures behind that decision but the Cabinet had to give its formal approval. This was done by way of an “incorporeal” cabinet meeting, with McCarthy contacting Ministers by phone in the small hours of the morning. Green Party leader and Minister for the Environment John Gormley did not hear the phone ringing and a Garda driver was sent around to his house in Ringsend.
In his dual role as secretary to the Government and the Department of the Taoiseach, McCarthy is one the two most powerful civil servants in the State, the other being David Doyle, secretary general at the Department of Finance.
ON A PERSONAL level, McCarthy is famous throughout the public service for his aversion to flying. This means foreign travel is a matter of boats, trains and automobiles. But it has not hindered what is in every other respect a high-flying career. Nor has it prevented him from indulging his love of Italy and things Italian, including the language. Happily he is said to enjoy travelling by train and has become closely acquainted with Thomas Cook’s European Rail Timetable. He is said to be a great admirer of the Channel Tunnel which has done so much to reduce travel time to the Continent by rail.
Summing up McCarthy’s characteristics, another senior official said: “He has a brilliant brain. He’s very popular with his colleagues. He’s very calm under pressure. That’s one of his great attributes, he doesn’t panic. He is a very good analyst and thinks through the implications of everything.”
These qualities were severely tested recently when the talks on Social Partnership went down to the wire – and beyond. The increasing strain on participants could be seen in their faces as they made their way into Government Buildings day after day. But this process has been McCarthy’s speciality for some 16 years now and it will be surprising if he does not find a way to revive it in cooperation with the Taoiseach.
Deeply committed to his Catholic faith and inspired like former EU Commission president Jacques Delors by progressive Catholic social philosophy, he assists on a voluntary basis with the work of the St Andrew Resource Centre at Westland Row parish. He is held in esteem in ecclesiastical circles and played a significant role in setting up a structure for church-state dialogue. Even without the convenience of air travel, he was in attendance at the funeral of Pope John Paul II and the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI as part of the official delegation.
Born in Dublin in 1954, Dermot Gerard McCarthy attended the Christian Brothers’ school in Synge Street where he excelled at English and maths and was a champion debater. He went on to study economics at Trinity College Dublin and took a master’s degree in the subject.
Starting in what was then the Department of Industry and Commerce, he moved to Health in 1977 where he became an assistant secretary general. In 1990, he was appointed director of the National Economic and Social Council (NESC). As assistant secretary general in the Department of the Taoiseach with responsibility for the Economic and Social Policy division from 1993 to 2000 he was a central figure in the Social Partnership agreements of that period. In January 2000, he became secretary general to the Government, succeeding Frank Murray, and, in July 2001, he combined this role with secretary general to the Department of the Taoiseach.
As secretary general to the Government, he is the only civil servant allowed to attend Cabinet meetings. He keeps the official record, drafts Government decisions and briefs the Government press secretary afterwards, “on such matters as the Taoiseach (or other person chairing the meeting) may authorise for release to the media”.
At 9am each Wednesday morning, the day after Cabinet, McCarthy chairs a weekly meeting of secretaries general from the different departments in the Sycamore Room at Government Buildings where he briefs his colleagues on the Government’s deliberations.
A KEEN MODERNISER, he chaired a task force for the implementation of a report by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) entitled Ireland: Towards an Integrated Public Service. The task force report was published last November and a policy statement on Transforming Public Services was issued by the Government.
His wife Rosemary is a social worker in a Dublin hospital and they have one son.
Minister of State and former civil servant Martin Mansergh has said of McCarthy that, “Ireland is immensely fortunate to have such a capable, experienced and socially-conscious public servant at the Taoiseach’s side, who is respected by all and able to get the best out of people”.
Now when was the last time you heard that kind of thing said about a member of the Dáil?
Deaglán de Bréadún is Political Correspondent with The Irish Times
CV DERMOT McCARTHY
Who is he:Dermot McCarthy, secretary general to the Government and the Department of the Taoiseach.
Why is he in news:Driving force behind the (currently halted) Social Partnership process.
Most likely to say:That's a very interesting point and I'm sure it can be accommodated.
Least likely to say:I know it's only Day One, but there's not a hope in hell of agreement.
Most appealing characteristic:Endless patience.
Least appealing characteristic:Too patient for some.
