Mr. David Moloney:

There are big differences between the level of political accountability and scrutiny in terms of the Oireachtas and electorate compared to the administrative accountability, which is more in the nature of a different employment relationship and a more standard employment type of relationship. Fundamentally, Ministers are responsible for the operation of their Departments under the Ministers and Secretaries Act. That overall level of responsibility is quite comprehensive and places quite a deal of accountability and responsibility on them. The ideal operation of the Public Service Management Act was to in some ways try to lighten that load by referring to the Secretaries General. It does that by saying that if something very basic goes wrong in the operation of a Department, for example, if somebody trips on the stairs, then it is not the Minister’s responsibility. This is the day-to-day operation of the Department. The challenge, then, is where that line is drawn. When does it become the responsibility of the Minister and when is it that of the Secretary General? I do not think that there will be a one-size-fits-all. That is where the OECD talks about building up a relationship of trust and an open dialogue between the administrative and political levels in order that there can be a shared understanding of where the responsibilities lie. I think the principles are sound in their own way. It is right that the Secretaries General are responsible for the day-to-day operation of their Department. It is probably in many cases an unreasonable burden to expect a Minister to account for that. On the other hand, there is political responsibility under the Constitution and under the Ministers and Secretaries Act. A similar thing happens within the Departments. I spoke in my opening statement about the framework of responsibilities. I can delegate the responsibility within my Department down to principal officer level through a framework of assignments. Even as I delegate responsibility in particular areas, however, I remain responsible as Secretary General for those areas. There is that balance because you are the head of the Department, political or administrative, so you retain some responsibility for what goes on there.