Mary Lou McDonald under fire for labelling the public service 'constipated' 

The Sinn Féin president has come under fire for her comments in this newspaper that the public service is 'constipated'

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said tackling the 'constipated' public and civil service would be one of the biggest challenges for Sinn Féin in government. File picture

Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald has come under fire for her comments that the public service is "constipated".

The remarks were unwarranted and unjustified, Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath has claimed.

Mr McGrath was responding to comments given by Ms McDonald in an interview with the Irish Examiner on Wednesday morning and said he felt the need to respond as the minister responsible for the civil service.

He said the comments were "an unwarranted and unjustified criticism, from someone who is offering herself as a potential Taoiseach".

He said: “We're talking here about 350,000 public and civil servants who we are relying on to roll out our vaccination programme. They are teachers who will be turning up tomorrow to teach our kids. 

"They are the Defence Forces who have really stood up to the mark to ensure the vaccination programme continues. They are the gardaí on our streets. They are nurses who are in ICU, covered up in PPE, trying to keep the show on the road and look after people who are really ill.”

The Sinn Fein leader said tackling the "constipated" public and civil service would be one of the biggest challenges for her party in government.

She said: "There is immense talent in our civil service, our public service, and our public administration, that's the first thing that needs to be said. But we have, in many respects, a system that is constipated, a system that is slow, and a system that needs to be jolted into more efficient actions.”

Mr McGrath, a Cork South Central TD, said while there will always be room for improving how the civil and public service operates, he said “tarring” the whole service with the one brush was unfair.

'Loose, glib remark'

“So, I just felt it was a really loose, glib remark that was completely unwarranted. Now, of course, we acknowledge that there will always be opportunities for improvements in the way the public service and the civil service performs. But that type of tarring everyone with the one brush was completely unwarranted,” Mr McGrath said.

Former justice minister and Fine Gael TD Charlie Flanagan responding to Ms McDonald's comments said public sector workers across Ireland have shown exceptional resilience, flexibility and dedication over the past two years of Covid-19 pandemic. 

“They deserve our appreciation and thanks rather than insults,” he said.

Labour’s Ged Nash also hit out at the remarks, saying it amounted to “an extraordinary attack by SF on the civil and public service”.

He said Ms McDonald’s interview was “a tough read for those who’ve worked very hard to deliver services throughout the pandemic. The only people who will take delight in her remarks are right-wing anti-public service ideologues”.