Sir, – The fact that Dr James Reilly is in breach of a High Court judgment is, unquestionably, a serious issue. However, the imputation that a conflict of interest exists due to the overlap between his professional interests and his portfolio is grossly unfair to Dr Reilly.
Prior to his appointment, five other GPs held the office of Minister for Health, namely James Ryan, Noël Browne, Rory O’Hanlon, and John O’Connell.
All of these men owned or part-owned their own medical practice, so why is Dr Reilly the first holder of the office to face such accusations?
Are all politicians now to be excluded from holding office in an area which they made a living before entering politics? At least six farmers were appointed as Minister for Agriculture under recent Fianna Fáil governments.
Three lawyers held the Justice portfolio in Mr Cowen’s government alone. I don’t recall Fianna Fáil calling for them to divest themselves of their farms or legal practices. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – While Minister for Health James Reilly obfuscates about his failure to comply with a High Court order, I rang Beaumont Hospital on Friday morning to make an appointment, for what I believe is an urgent blood test, to be told that the earliest available appointment is 11am on September 5th, 2012.
Need I say more? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – And now it becomes clear why our Government and its Ministers did not rush to condemn Mick Wallace’s financial “misbehaviour”. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. – Yours, etc,