Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My point is that there is a sense that the real function of the communications unit and the €5 million of taxpayers' money is to promote the Government and the Ministers, not the hospital. I genuinely believe there is a danger in how this grows and evolves. If a hospital is a self-contained entity in its work it is difficult to comprehend why its communications agenda is located within the Department of the Taoiseach. All the good news relating to it therefore is for the Taoiseach. The blurring of party politics with the Civil Service is a governance issue that the Taoiseach does not understand. We need to be very careful about it. I do not see why it is necessary to have a separate campaign on the children's hospital while there is a bespoke model and framework there already.

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