Brendan Ryan (Labour)

While Senator O'Toole has a point, a fundamental of effective democracy is that people take responsibility for what is done in their names. The former British Home Secretary, Mr. Blunkett, stated: "[Any] perception of this application being speeded up requires me to take responsibility." Whether that responsibility should have extended to resignation is a separate issue.

While I do not wish to raise tomorrow's business but the manner of Government, an important memo in the Department of Health and Children apparently never got as far as the then Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin. He was responsible for a failure to manage the Department so that important issues came to the attention of the person responsible. This is a failure of management for which the person in charge of the Department was responsible. While the outcome is perhaps a separate issue, if one does not run a Department so that important matters which have significant implications are drawn to one's immediate attention, it is because one is incompetent or one has a policy of avoiding being told so one can avoid responsibility. Neither approach is a way to run a Department. I contrast the sensitivity and acceptance of responsibility of David Blunkett with the determination of various people to pretend they have no responsibility for the situation in our nursing homes. Who is responsible-——