Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There has been a lot this week about taking political heads, as Senator Norris said. Anybody who participates in an attempt to destroy the reputation of a decent, honest man deserves everything that is coming to them but Fintan O'Toole writes in The Irish Timestoday about the subversion of this State by faceless, grey beards who hide behind the political system, namely, the officials of this country. What do they do when they get caught out? They retire and take off with their pensions. We need to investigate the question of ethics. We have had a senior garda walk out of a job with a pension into a fat job somewhere else in a policing authority, without any accountability for what took place under her stewardship. We have had similar stories in respect of other civil servants.Yesterday, we saw the most senior official in the Department of Justice and Equality assure his staff that they will be found to have done no wrong, as he took off with his pension.

For two years, I have been trying to get the Department of Defence, another dysfunctional Department, to release information. I have five simple questions on what happens to the recommendations of the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces following his retirement and as we await for the position to be filled. A lieutenant colonel's career was destroyed because of a mathematical error and we have failed to find out what happened in that case. A young captain is waiting for promotion while, again, a recommendation from the ombudsman is rejected.

It is time that we opened the veil on the Sir Humphreys that operate in this State. They are bringing down politicians all over the place. The Leader may smile but they have taken out one of his Ministers, and if we count the last Government they have taken out two. They sit back and smile knowing that the Government members are there for a short while but they are there forever. They have no right to decide what will and will not be released. How dare they behave the way that they have? I call on the Leader to ask the Taoiseach to take control of the Department and make it answerable to this House and to the State.