Role of advisers under the spotlight

THE role of ministerial special advisers has come under intense scrutiny following the publication of the Travers Report.

While the report found there was nothing to indicate Minister Micheál Martin was adequately briefed on the nursing home charges issue by his officials while at the Department of Health, it did appear to indict his special advisers.

The advisers - who are political appointments and not civil servants - had been present at a meeting of senior department officials and health board CEOs in Dublin’s Gresham Hotel on December 16, 2003, at which the issue was raised.