John Kelly (Labour)

I want to question the role of the Civil Service here. Who runs the country? Is it the civil servants or is it the Ministers and Government? Since I was elected to this House, I have been infuriated by various Departments and how the Civil Service has misguided Ministers. The Department of Education and Skills recently gave the wrong information to the Minister on the issue of a small school. The Department apologised subsequently for its mistake but the damage had been done to the small school in my area. At committee meetings, officials from the Department of Social Protection tell us how they are dealing with appeals, how fast the scanning system is working and that the turnover time is three to four months, when in reality I had to write a letter this morning for a client who applied for carer's allowance last November and who has heard nothing since then. The Department of Health was advised by HIQA that Roscommon County Hospital was unsafe - and, consequently, we lost the accident and emergency department - yet it never visited Roscommon hospital. Officials from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government do not want my Wind Turbines Bill 2012 to see the light of day because it is contrary to the wishes of the Irish Wind Energy Association. However, the worst example is something that happened recently. I earmarked the need for an ambulance base in Ballaghaderreen, given that we are 30-plus miles from every hospital. I suggested to the county manager that we co-use the fire station in Ballaghaderreen and he considered it a great idea. I put it to the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, who said it was a great idea. I put it to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, who agreed it was a great idea. The chief ambulance officer for the western region sat down with the acting chief fire officer in Roscommon for five hours and they drew up an agreed plan. The station officer at Ballaghaderreen fire station and all the staff are agreeable. Mr. Colm McCarthy reported that services should be co-used and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, has said it is Government policy to share services. Yet a senior civil servant in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is trying to block it. I call for a debate on the role of civil servants and how they interact with Ministers. Who has the power?