Committee divided on report, says Opposition

Fine Gael and the Labour Party have joined forces to claim that Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats have conspired to prevent criticism of Government Ministers in a report due tomorrow on illegal nursing home charges.

The two main opposition parties today published twelve points they claim the Government parties refused to include in an Oireachtas Health Committee report relating to the Travers investigation into nursing home charges.

"We put forward reasonable conclusions based on the content of Mr Travers Report and the extensive public hearings which the Committee held.

"But, at the end of the day, the Government members on the Committee circled their wagons and refused to even discuss the conclusions we suggested," said Liz McManus of the Labour Party.

Fine Gael health spokesman Dr Liam Twomey said the suggestions last week that the Health Committee had agreed their report were wrong. He said both coalition partners dismissed any claims of political responsibility by former Minister for Health Michael Martin for the 29-year affair.

Deputies Twomey and McManus highlighted twelve conclusions which they believed should have been included in the Report:

1.The former Minister for Health and Children, Mr Micheal Martin, failed to accept his responsibility as a Minister as laid out in Section 3 of the Public Service Management Act 1997. (Public Service Management Act 1997 Section 3 – A Minister of the Government having charge of a Department shall, in accordance with the Ministers and Secretaries Acts, 1924 to 1995, be responsible for the performance of functions that are assigned to the Department pursuant to any of those Acts.)

2.The lack of clarity and confusion regarding the roles of Minister of State within the Department led to a failure at Ministerial level to take appropriate action on the issue of illegal long stay charges.

3.The decision to introduce medical cards to all those aged seventy and over without consultation with the Department of Health and Children did not receive the analytical input commensurate with the policy and operational importance of the decision and reflects a failure of governance at Cabinet level.

4.A comprehensive review of health legislation, with particular emphasis on mandatory services, discretionary services and entitlement to charge for services, should be at the heart of the Department's strategy plan, rather than being an issue that is continually postponed.

5.The Health Committee should revisit the issue of internal audits within the Department of Health and Children in the immediate future and invite evidence from the officer with responsibility for internal audits, as well as the Department's legal adviser, the Office of the Attorney General and officers of the Department of Finance.

6.Given concerns raised at committee of the lack of written records of ministerial engagement with an issue or decision at issue, consideration should be given to an appropriate amendment to the relevant legislation that will place an obligation on Ministers to record in writing any decisions or instructions they make on significant issues.

7.From correspondence with the Clerk of the Dáil, published with this report, it appears that there is room for some confusion as to whether the enactments passed by the Oireachtas and the codes of conduct adopted under those Acts apply to the Ceann Comhairle in his capacity as such. We propose that appropriate amendments be made so as to remove any possible room for doubt on the matter.

8.We recommend that Dáil Éireann give consideration to the way in which, at present, it deals with the Annual Estimates. In particular, it might be useful if expenditures which are effectively non-discretionary (i.e. which arise from entitlements which must be met, for example, public service pensions) were identified.

9.Dáil Éireann should be allowed access to legal advice on the State's liabilities on the basis that it will be asked to vote the monies to meet those liabilities. Further, when such advice is central to a matter that has been referred to an Oireachtas committee for examination by it, that advice, even if on a redacted basis or in private session, should be furnished. Based on that memorandum, Minister Martin's Special advisors did not perform their functions as set out in Section 11 of the Public Service Management Act 1997.

10.The memorandum circulated within the Department of Health and Children by the then Secretary General, following an instruction from the then Minister in March 2000, created an inappropriate process for informing the then Minister on significant issues and developments. Minister Martin did not, in line with the Public Service Management Act 1997 and the Guidelines for Ministers issued by the Taoiseach in 2002, ensure that appropriate strategies and systems were in place and operational to enable the Department to meet its goals and objectives.

The Oireachtas Committee held public hearings over several weeks during which Tánaiste Mary Harney, Mr Martin, Ministers of State, special advisors and high-ranking department officials were questioned.

The report will be published in Leinster House by committee chairman John Moloney tomorrow and presented to the Government.