Oireachtas health report provokes hectic scenes at press conference

There were extraordinary scenes at today's press conference for the publication of the Oireachtas Committee on Health report into the Travers inquiry on nursing home charges.

Opposition TDs squabbled with each other as they accused Government TDs of protecting former minister for health Micheál Martin.

Liz McManus of Labour accused Fianna Fáil senator Geraldine Feeney of talking rubbish after she claimed a policy document had been introduced into the hearings:

Speaking in Co Clare this afternoon, Mr Martin once again denied he was responsible for the scandal, and said he knew nothing about it:

"I was 16 years of age in 1976 and the then Fine Gael/Labour government brought in a charge that was illegal and I'm supposed to take responsibility for that?" he said.

"Deputy Liz McManus or deputy Liam Tuomey when Travers was published, on the day it was published, before they even read it, they were condemning me again without reading the report.

"The report then didn't give them what they wanted so they spent the rest of the time condemning it.''

The report says there is an urgent need for ministers to clarify their responsibilities within Government departments.

The committee says more needs to be done to prevent potential confusion on the exact roles of ministers and their respective advisers.

The recommendations are designed to make the workings of Government departments more effective and cost-efficient.

This report is highly critical of inter-governmental management.

It says there is an urgent need to clarify the responsibilities of ministers in a certain department.

It said also that clearer guidelines are needed to clarify exactly who is responsible when a decision is reached.

The report calls for the introduction a cabinet within the Cabinet so that officials within a department are properly delegated their roles and responsibilities.