Aimed,what was the loop hole and who did you point it out to?just interested.

@Richiefett Sorry for delay. For example, if there are 2 items on a prescription and for some reason the person only gets one item, the 2nd item can be put through the system in the pharmacy, even though the person may never get that item. The person receiving the drugs does not have to sign anything. Plus I hear that sometimes people get more medication than they need do to the size that packets come in!

I no longer take their crap medication because when I did my research I found out that there were lawsuits against the makers. I don’t care if doctors call me “non-compliant” or “a’la carte” because they are so brainwashed by Pharmaceutical companies I know that I know more about the drugs than they do and their side effects. Plus I connect to doctors with experience who know what they are talking about.

GPs are grand when it comes to breaking an arm (for example) where they will refer a person for x-rays and physio (if you are lucky). But when it comes to mental health and nutrition they seem to lack basic training. It was actually medication that helped trigger my “disorder” in the first place. In the form of “anti-depressants”/SSRIs. Not that the doctors at the time would tell me that! Pharmaceutical companies hide negative trials and only publish positive ones (see the work of honest Psychiatrist Professor David Healy).

I wrote to “The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children initially, but it would have been forwarded onto the relevant people in the HSE, including James Reilly’s office.

Indeed he did, even half apologizing, saying he couldn’t think of a more parliamentary word for it. Someone needs a thesaurus for Christmas…

I bet he wouldn’t call the previous lad that. The previous CEO was a fianna fail man. FACT! Double standards Fleming.

where was this gob for the last number of years. they are a big part of where we are today.

What the hell is wrong with ye guys , who cares what party he is from , finally someone Is calling out the problem like they would in the private sector , these senior guys in the DeH and HSE are on massive money and need to be held account

Fleming was the Financial Director of FF. Naturally there are lots of interesting stories and tales from his tenure. Vincent Browne explored Ray Burke and political donations and Fleming in this fascinating article: http://politico.ie/component/content/article/153.html

It certainly is best for the likes of Fleming to retire from politics as soon as possible. He has no credibility or nothing positive to offer this country. Not that that was ever a concern to him.

Ahhh I was just about to watch six one in the plus one channel, you ruined the news for me, please start all spoiler emails with Spoiler Alert

Thank you

FFer acting like a shitehawk is hardly a surprise!

Any of the Fianna Gaelabour Party acting like a shitehawk is hardly news…..

It’s the way the whole macho righteous anger thing is undermined by his voice going all squeaky when he shouts… it just gets me every time I watch it.

I loved the “I don’t know that there’s parliamentary language for this, but chillax”. I think the deputy will find, if he really strains his brain, the word he’s looking for is “relax”.

At least TDs can be voted out. At least this Td stood up to the ‘untouchables’ in the senior civil service who think they’re accountable to no one. Not exactly a fan of the TD himself either.

Read the article, civil servants are legally not allowed comment on policy, I assume that is the role of the minister, as civil servants have to work with any and all parties, and their various policies, dependant upon who gets elected.

Now if they ignored those policy directions that is a different matter.

@Thomas O’Donnell. Civil Servants are not, save in very limited circumstances (see para 2 below), directly accountable to the Oireachtas. That is how the law is framed, and deliberately so. The Secretary General of a Department is accountable to the Minister for the exercise of his/her duties under the Public Service Management Act, 1997. Other civil servants, operating under the authority of the Minister, implement Government policy set by the Minister. And since the function and capacity of civil servants in general is to act in the name of the Minister, it follows that the capacity in which civil servants appear before an Oireachtas Committee (with the exception of the Accounting Officer at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) – see below) is on behalf of the Minister. Moreover, reflecting the different responsibilities of Ministers and civil servants there is a statutory PROHIBITION on civil servants expressing an opinion on the merits or the merits of the objectives of a particular policy, whether in the Oireachtas, in the media or in any public forum. While civil servants can factually explain existing policies as outlined by Ministers/Government, policy determination is the responsibility of Ministers who are accountable for it to the Oireachtas. This is presumably the reason why Ambrose McLoughlin refused to answer the question put to him by Sean Fleming.

There is, however, as alluded to above, one crucial exception to the rules on accountability of civil servants to the Oireachtas, and that is when the Secretary General of a Department appears before the PAC in his capacity as Accounting Officer (separate from his/her capacity as Secretary-General). In this capacity, he or she is accountable to the PAC in relation to the regularity and propriety of the transactions in the Department’s accounts; the economy and efficiency of the Department in the use of its resources; and the systems, procedures and practices used by the Department for the purpose of evaluating effectiveness (value-for-money). However, in accordance with the general position described above, the terms of reference of the PAC explicitly states that “The Committee shall refrain from…enquiring into the merits of a policy or policies of the Government or a member of the Government or the merits of the objectives of such policies.”

The crux of the issue, therefore, is whether Sean Fleming was questioning McLoughlin on the merits of the Government’s policy or its objectives on prescription drugs or on a purely accounting matter. I haven’t been able to get a hold of the transcript, so am unable to give a view on this.

Lol…

Sorry I meant to type precious little government. Little meaning poor as opposed to small !

Exactly right Gaius, summed up in one. TDs and ministers are just the faces of the system thats always there

Gaius

Can you contribute anything on this site without being foul mouthed . It clearly shows some form of educational ,intellectual or social deficit. Indeed it is even more likely that the three are involved .
Wash your mouth out.

FFS Paddy. Chillax!

give paddy Rodgers a saucer of milk, he’s clearly having a bad day :-D

He made clear valid points Paddy, unlike you. I agree with him in that regard. You however have nothing to say, obviously.

@Gaius: It is simply ridiculous to generalise that civil servants are making “an absolute boll*x of everything”. Just as it would be ridiculous to state that all private sector workers or all bank workers in the country screwed up our country. If you can’t rise above such cheap generalisations, then better to stay quiet.

Civil servants, despite the perception cultivated by Yes Minister, do not form policy. That is the Government’s job. Some have clearly been better than others. Most civil servants are people around you, people who seek to do a good job; many are deeply patriotic people, who could be earning a lot more in the private sector (yes, even in this time of recession). Yes, there are civil servants who under-perform, and probably more than there should be, and they should be sanctioned (and this is increasingly happening).

Right on. Let’s not forget that there are 300,000 of them and they cost 13 billion Euro. Every year. No wonder we’re bust.

@Eggfuel: “The real disease in the system” is the current electoral system which perpetuates a culture of cronyism and local gombeen politics. Civil servants are not faultless – some are undoubtedly lazy, some are undoubtedly incompetent, just like in the private sector – but they implement policy set by the Government, i.e. the politicians. In this case, the civil servant was perfectly right to refuse to engage on a matter of Government policy. In fact, he was legally compelled to refuse, on the basis of laws made by the same politicians, for right or for wrong.

Isn’t it sad that this country hasn’t got a political party that’s actually fit to govern it. If there were an election tomorrow, I genuinely wouldn’t have a clue who to vote for. Even independents and small parties like Joe Higgins crowd have proved themselves to be no better than the mainstream crowd when the heat’s applied! How in gods name did it ever come to this?

Maybe run for election yourself Roddy.

Your assertions are ridiculous and do not follow from the article you are commenting on.