Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ministers are held accountable by the Dáil. They are selected by the Dáil and they can be deselected by it. The concept of responsibility implies a direct personal involvement in a decision or an action with accompanying credit or blame. The Carltona doctrine then allows many actions to be taken in the name of the Minister, some of which I imagine they may be completely unaware of, given everything that happens in a Department. There could be a situation where the Minister would have to go before the Dáil or a committee like this one and can be held accountable in that way. Would it be fair to say that this could result in a situation where if things go right, even if it is because of the officials, that the Minister can get credit for that? By the same score, if things go wrong, and again the Minister might be unaware of this, could the Minister be held responsible in the same sense because of that?