A chara, – If Enda Kenny knew his Minister for Health had shares in the private health industry why did he gave him the Health portfolio? That he didn’t envisage, or refused to see, the conflict of interest that this might present, calls into question his decision- making skills. And they pay all that money to “advisers”! – Is mise,
Sir, – Having read your account of James Reilly’s statement to the Dáil concerning his debts (Home News, July 12th), might I suggest a simple, and perhaps novel way nowadays, for Minister Reilly to deal with the problem? Pay the money back! – Yours, etc,
Sir, – That Dr James Reilly remains in post on Thursday morning beggars belief. Here is a Minister responsible for health policy, with the power and possible goal of cutting back on public sector nursing places, involved in the private nursing home business and, presumably, seeking to profit from it. There could hardly be a more egregious conflict of interest.
That Dr Reilly has put his interest in the nursing home business into the hands of an attorney hardly makes a difference: in fact arguably it makes matters worse as the attorney will have a fiduciary duty to act in Dr Reilly’s best financial interests and (to my knowledge) will have no legal duty to consider the niceties of conflicts of interest regarding their principal’s role as a Minister.
Fine Gael, the erstwhile party of Michael Lowry, won a landslide on a promise to clean up Irish politics. Its record so far demonstrates that, actually, it is only interested in giving the Irish people more of the same shenanigans that have to date so disconnected ordinary Irish people from those who rule them.
It hardly matters that Dr Reilly does not see fit to resign in the circumstances – that the Taoiseach and his Ministerial colleagues rush to his defence in the way that they have without seemingly considering the full implications of the position in which Dr Reilly finds himself, says it all about this Government’s determination that the new politics in Ireland should be all about business as usual. To describe Ireland as a banana republic is to do a disservice to bananas. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – It is utterly preposterous and an insult to the intelligence of the public to assert that the unfortunate Dr Reilly has no conflict of interest in his present predicament. Nor does that conflict disappear simply because it may be shown that the Minister in any particular case had or believed he had the public interest uppermost in his thoughts.
He has a conflict and there is the potential for future conflicts while he stays in office or fails to divest himself of his investment.
May I suggest that there is a second conflict of interest within the Cabinet: one that lies between narrow party political considerations and public interest, while his colleagues of both parties, having known or now knowing his position, vote for or against or abstain on policies the Minister brings forward for their consideration.
Someone’s judgment is woeful. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – It is at times like this that you would miss the PDs and the Greens. They would have held their senior coalition partners to account.
Still, it’s nice to see that Pat Rabbitte has grown up, and is sparing us his faux outrage on this occasion. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – It appears that the Taoiseach and Tánaiste are satisfied with Dr James Reilly’s explanation of why he failed to comply with a High Court order in relation to a bill for €1.9 million.
Might we now suggest that Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore ask Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan to extend the same degree of understanding to those who fail to comply with local court orders to pay the €100 household charge? – Yours, etc,