GAVAN REILLY: Would Eoghan Murphy have stayed for a shorter term?

There are two ways to approach Eoghan Murphy’s surprise resignation from the Dáil announced a week ago. The former housing minister’s reasons for leaving is that his heart simply isn’t in the job any more: that he would rather resign and make way for a more enthusiastic replacement, than draw a public salary for the rest of the term but only half-arsing the job.

One response is to simply say, fair play. TDs now get paid over €98,000 and more cynically-minded readers might simply surmise that half-arsing the job would be the easier thing to do. The next election could still be close to four years away, by which time Murphy would have drawn not only a hefty salary, but also have accrued a tidy further contribution to his parliamentary pension.

The other response, of course, is to wonder why someone might have bothered to look for the job at all if they didn’t think they were committed to doing the work of a TD for the full term. It’s not as if Eoghan Murphy genuinely thought he might be back at the Cabinet table: even before the election had been held, he was reasonably upfront about not expecting another term as minister. Now after just one year of five as a backbencher, he’s decided he’s better deployed elsewhere. (Maybe his mind has genuinely changed in the meantime: it’s possible he genuinely wanted the job in 2020, and has genuinely changed its mind.)

That brings up another question of whether, in the 21st century, it’s really plausible to install people in public office for five years at a time. Politics now is a 24/7 grind, and the pace simply moves quicker. The long hours will ruin even the most energetic people. So should the term be reduced? A shorter term means more accountability and also might encourage more people to give it a go, if they only one turn in office.

You might however point to the likes of the United States, where congressmen spend as much time fretting about re-election as they do about their the work. But equally, maybe the best way to get re-elected is to prove your worth in office. New Zealand’s MPs only get three-year terms. Maybe Jacinda Ardern gets stuff done simply because there’s less time available to do it.