Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Last week, I spoke about the need for us to get behind or beneath the Ministers when disasters like the cervical screening disaster take place. I explained how the Carltona doctrine or principles allow public servants, including those who took decisions and hid information in this case, to remain faceless. I want to see Tony O'Brien go, but there are other people who need to go too. If he goes, what about the people beneath him who did not report? Where does the responsibility lie?All too frequently in this world, we look for the head of a big name, while the wrongdoers continue to do the same thing. Nowhere is more the case than in the health service where we have had scandal after scandal, yet the wrongdoers always remain in place and there is no accountability. I am all for protecting workers and ensuring they are treated fairly and correctly. However, when senior officials deliberately set out to hide information that cost people their lives, there must be accountability. Surely it cannot stop at the desk of the Minister or chief executive officer as they cannot have their finger on every pulse at all times.

My colleague, Senator Mark Daly, spoke a few moments ago about the British Foreign Secretary, Mr. Boris Johnson. The EUobserverwebsite features an interesting article under the title, "At Northern Irish border, Brexit risks hard-won peace". It begins as follows:

In Belfast's Alexandra Park stands a very hard border. A three-meter high wall cuts through the hilly green meadow, separating the republican Catholic and the unionist Protestant communities.

The piece then discusses the risks presented by a border in the event that Brexit goes wrong. The utterances of the Foreign Secretary, Mr. Johnson, and some other British Ministers indicate that Brexit is going wrong. As I have stated numerous times, the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs, Deputy Helen McEntee, have done a tremendous job. However, all of their work will come to nothing if the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom falls apart and the Brexit negotiations collapse. It is beginning to look as if that could happen because the clock is ticking and nobody seems to have a clear idea of where we are going. One of my fears arising from the current cervical screening disaster is that the importance of Brexit may slip off the agenda. For this reason, I seek an assurance that Brexit remains a high priority.

Last week, I asked for a debate on corporate governance in the public sector, with particular reference to the Carltona doctrine, which protects individuals who clearly act wrongfully in their positions, and how this principle made its way into the Ministers and Secretaries Act.