Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I am absolutely satisfied that, in order to discharge political accountability, two or three democratically elected politicians — a Minister and one or two Ministers of State — should be asked to run a Department which may have many hundreds of thousands of people working for it. I do not see what could be more respectful of our democratic institutions than to give political responsibility for running Departments to politicians. We do not live in a technocracy — we live in a democracy. People elect us to this House. This House elects Governments. We have a broad range of domestic and international responsibilities in terms of how we serve the people and the country. I assure the Deputy that those who hold positions in this Administration have extensive and responsible jobs to do. Each of them is held to account by the other Members of this House on a daily basis. I do not think it is in the interests of politics for those who exercise the profession to denigrate their fellow members of the profession.

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