Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I wish to share time with Deputies Twomey and Perry. This is an important day for the House and the principle of political responsibility and accountability. It is a great honour and privilege to be appointed a Minister but with this privilege comes responsibility and accountability. These are set out in section 3 of the Public Service Management Act 1997 which states clearly that a Minister of the Government is responsible for the performance of the functions that are assigned to his Department. Nothing could be clearer. The political buck stops with the Minister, not the Secretary General, assistant secretary or the Minister's special advisers. There is a clear duty on every Minister to acquaint himself or herself with an issue when it is brought to his or her attention. The Minister who goes to Áras an Uachtaráin to receive his or her seal of office has this responsibility and nobody else.

It is clear from the reaction of members of the Government, particularly the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, although she stated she accepts political responsibility, and the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Martin, that they do not regard this legislation as applying to them. They assume they are some sort of elite or that they are superior and exempt from the law of the land which applies to the rest of us. This is in sharp contrast to the incoherent hysterical rantings of some Fianna Fáil Deputies when the party was in Opposition.

The Government has tried to portray the Minister, Deputy Martin, as some sort of poor innocent soul, cut off from his Department and denied access to crucial information while the civil servants around him conspired to perpetrate a massive fraud. While there is evidence that management within the Department, especially in recent years, failed to deal properly with an issue which has such significant legal financial and political consequences, assigning that responsibility to the management of the Department does not exonerate the political head of the Department from his responsibilities. It is not the case that either civil servants or the Minister are responsible for running Departments. Responsibility is assigned to both, with the Minister as the political head of the Department.

The Minister, Deputy Martin, has claimed consistently that he was never given a briefing which allowed him to appreciate the significance of the charges issue. That is not true. The Travers report states in paragraph 4.36 that background papers on the charges issue were circulated to all those expected to attend the meeting of 16 December 2003. It then tells us in paragraph 4.41 that the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Tim O'Malley, read these papers in advance of the meeting, as one would expect of any responsible Minister, and having read them formed the view, as he indicated in his evidence to Mr. Travers, that if the opinion and legal advice the South Eastern Health Board had received were correct, they would give rise to “significant legal, operation, financial and political implications”. The Minister also received this briefing. Whatever criticisms are made of the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, for assuming the necessary legal advice was obtained, at least he met his fundamental ministerial responsibility by reading the documentation, although he seems to have disavowed his responsibility for this area because he has special responsibility for the intellectually disabled. The same cannot be said of the then Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin or the then Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Callely. The latter was so excited about the issue that he promised to brief the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Martin, but then failed to tell the Minister or follow up on an issue impacting directly on his area of responsibility. Last month, we will recall he announced a €16 billion infrastructure programme without it being first approved by the Government.

Yesterday in the House, I referred to the 2002 guidelines issued by the Taoiseach, informing Ministers of their responsibility to ensure systems are in place and operational to enable their Departments to meet their goals and objectives. Chapter seven of the Travers report identifies large numbers of changes needed to the practices and procedures in the Department of Health and Children. It provides compelling evidence that the Department did not have systems in place to carry out its functions. According to the Taoiseach's guidelines, the Minister must take responsibility for such a system failure.

The third area where the Minister, Deputy Martin, must face up to his responsibilities is that of his special advisers. The Public Service Management Act 1997 clearly sets out the legal position that special advisers are accountable for the performance of their function to the Minister who appointed them. In the Travers report, the then Minister's special advisers are criticised for their "apparent lack of concern or even [apparent] interest" in the issue of charges. He also states that they "might have been expected to more actively probe and analyse the underlying issues involved". Serious issues arise concerning these special advisers. Why does Mr. Travers recommend that special advisers are not part of the line management system of the Department? These advisers received the same briefing note as the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley. They were there for the discussion that so excited the Minister of State, Deputy Callely, yet they still failed to brief their Minister. Their failure is the Minister's responsibility.

The Minister, Deputy Martin, can run from this issue, but he cannot hide. He received a briefing that would have alerted him to the seriousness of the matter. Even if he did not get that briefing, he had a duty to ask questions. Whether it is brought to one's attention inside or outside the Department, ministerial accountability and responsibility requires a Minister to be briefed on every issue. Did the Minister, Deputy Martin, ask questions when the Human Rights Commission clearly spelled out the illegality of charges? Did he ask questions when the Sunday Independent carried a story that thousands of medical cards holders were being illegally charged? Did he even read the many replies he gave to parliamentary questions on the issue in this period? The Tánaiste claims she must sign off on 300 parliamentary questions on some Dáil sitting days. I have evidence from families who wrote to the then Minister, Deputy Martin, on these charges who never even received the courtesy of a reply from the Department.

The picture that emerges is of a Minister, divorced from his officials, surrounded by special advisers, immersed in commissioning reports and craving photocalls and public relations opportunities, while underneath a major scandal was brewing. Contrast this with the approach of the late Mr. John Boland when Minister in 1987. He prepared legislative proposals, approved formally by the then Government on 5 February 1987. The incoming Government in March 1987 reviewed them but did not proceed with this legislation. The then Minister for Health was none other than the Ceann Comhairle, a matter raised by Deputy Rabbitte this morning.

I do not expect the Minister, Deputy Martin, will accept his responsibilities. The Taoiseach claims he has confidence in the Minister. I expected the Minister to tender his resignation on the matter. I do not expect the Taoiseach will have the courage to call on the Minister and the Ministers of State involved to resign. As the Secretary General, Mr. Kelly, briefed the Minister to some extent on the issue, it is still the Minister's responsibility. The two Ministers of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley and Callely, knew about the briefing document before 16 December 2003. The Minister's inactivity and inability to deal with the issue has cost the taxpayer €500 million from 2001.

I have given the Tánaiste some credit for taking action when the Attorney General gave her his advice on stopping the charges. Consequently, she introduced a Bill which had to be referred to the Supreme Court and has left us in this mess. Of all the Ministers for Health, Deputy Martin was the one in possession of a briefing document before 16 December 2003. He knew these charges were illegal but did not act upon them. He has, therefore, abdicated his ministerial responsibilities. He must tender his resignation to the Taoiseach.

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