Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As part of our role as public representatives, we have an obligation to raise matters pertaining to local communities with officialdom. There is a shield emerging, and it has emerged through its creation by the party opposite, around health in particular such that the Minister is not responsible for the HSE and that in the case of An Garda Síochána, it is an operational matter. It may well be an operational matter, but we need to be able to ask questions about operational matters and receive answers, and I will try to assist the Senator in this regard.