A lack of accountability at heart of Ireland’s woes

Minister Varadkar’s latest little speech is absolutely typical of the reason why Ireland is disappearing down the plughole. Nobody at Tallaght is responsible for the 91-year-old being left on a trolley overnight, he said.

But somebody is always responsible for things that go wrong. The fact that the person responsible is never held accountable in our bureaucratic jungle is the reason that everything is getting worse. You were kind enough to publish a letter of mine about five years ago saying part of my pension was being put in a special savings fund for my own hospital trolley. Has anything improved since?

Richard Barton