Reilly should fall on his sword

The fact that controversy is once again enveloping the Minister for Health, Dr James Reilly, should be ringing alarm bells in the Fine Gael party. Why he has still managed to hold on to his position shows a severe lack of judgement on the part of the leadership as the credibility of the coalition is suffering as a result. Labour is backing the minister but doubtless more for the sake of itself, rather than the country or the voters.

 

When Róisín Shorthall resigned a few months ago, she made a stand on a point of principle. In doing so, she drew attention to a number of issues with regard to Minister Reilly’s behaviour in office, which should have been acted on at the time. The parachuting in of two primary care centres in his own constituency the night before a list of sites was made public alone should have spelled the end of his tenure.

Instead, we now find ourselves a few months down the road and the issue has not just continued to haunt Minister Reilly, it has been joined by a number of other issues where his inability to manage the health service well is being exposed on a regular basis. This is particularly true in the case of his dealings with the pharmaceutical industry.

The recent Freedom of Information response received by Fianna Fáil, which has formed the basis for its motion of no confidence in the minister clearly shows the criteria that Minister Reilly claimed to have used in selecting sites was not, in fact, used. Combined with the last-minute inclusion of two centres in his own constituency, this alone warrants his resignation or removal from office.

The irony of Fianna Fáil tabling motions of no confidence that punish the practice of stroke politics will not be lost on anybody but in this case they are correct to do so and are fulfilling their role as an active opposition, for once.

Perhaps Enda Kenny and his partners in Labour feel it would be too damaging for the coalition to lose a major figure from Cabinet in the guise of the Minister for Health and this is why he has not been removed. In fact, he is doing more damage by remaining in office.

He has stated on the record that he would do everything exactly the same way he did if he got the chance to go back in time. This lack of contrition gives great insight into the attitude of the minister and should be a clear indication to his party and their coalition partners that he should be removed before he brings more trouble to the Government’s door.

Indeed, with the most recent tragedy in the health service, the death of Savita Halappanavar, mistakes were made in the choice of panel members to carry out the investigation. This constant blundering on the part of Minister Reilly is getting embarrassing for the Government and they are delusional if they feel they can continue to carry a Cabinet member who constantly generates negative headlines on the scale that Minister Reilly does.

It is also worrying the best excuse they can come up with is that health is a difficult brief. It certainly is but this reality fails to excuse the repeated mistakes that have been made by the current Minister for Health. It is clear from the mutterings of backbenchers that they are aware of the damage being done to the party and the Government by his remaining in office.

Why the party leadership is not listening to these elected members of the Dáil with regard to the issue of James Reilly is unclear but it is clear to most observers and commentators that they should be. Parties in the modern era pay hefty amounts of money to political advisors so it is a wonder these people have not been delivering good advice in this instance. Every day James Reilly remains a minister the Government’s credibility is damaged further. Given the looming budget and questions around who is actually making the financial decisions that affect people’s everyday lives, the Government should be doing everything in its power to reduce the number of negative stories and scandals that will appear about it in the media.

An excellent start to achieve this goal would be to remove the Minister for Health or at least twist his arm behind closed doors to fall on his sword ‘for the good of the party and the Government’. It is a nasty but integral part of politics all over the world and it is a real mystery why it has not already happened in this case. Interestingly, such a thing would now doubtless bring criticism from many quarters because it is happening so late in the day. No doubt many would say the Government had come to its senses far too late and what did this say about their judgement?

Certainly, this would be deserved to an extent but it is criticism that the Government should now be willing to take and, having soaked it up, get on with running the country. The minister’s bombastic claim that he would do nothing different speaks of dangerous recalcitrance on his part and an unwillingness to admit to failure. In a post like health, this is an unacceptable position to take in the context of maintaining a functional and unified Government. The personal must sometimes take a back seat to the political in such situations and as James Reilly has shown, this is not something he is willing to consider.

The Fine Gael leadership, in consultation with its partners in the Labour Party, must address this issue immediately and finally for the sake of the Government’s future stability and ultimately the good of the country. It is a stain that will not wash away quickly but one they must begin to remove with all possible haste.