Taxpayers are forced to pay for the failures of others

As citizens of this State, we should not accept the current status quo, writes Paul Mills

If there is anything that the current issues surrounding An Garda Síochána and the Health Service Executive tell us is that organisations focused on their own pre-eminence, even survival, are of no value to the people they serve.

Speaking at the opening session of the Disclosures Tribunal, its chairman Justice Peter Charleton noted that the investigation is a drain on the resources of the Irish people, saying the public wants his work to be completed efficiently. He also said that any lie told to the inquiry will be a “waste of what ordinary men and women have paid for”.