John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not expect the Civil Service or public service to be perfect. I accept that risks will have to be taken to achieve something and that if something goes wrong, we as public representatives have to understand that but when we are not being told and when what happened is being hidden from clear sight, that is what annoys people. My background is business and I have no doubt I made many mistakes. In politics, I have made many mistakes also, but that is the nature of the human condition, which is that you will make mistakes. I accept that. We need, however, to put before the people the truth so, in opposition, when the Minister put before the people his truth, they might have wanted that man in government to be saying the same things, doing the same things and fighting for those changes he was talking about, because that is what the country needs. This is about a growing up between the public, private and political systems here in trying to get the best for the people we represent. That is very much the kernel of everything.