Alison O'Connor: Health department still getting measure of new minister Stephen Donnelly
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has never held a Cabinet position before but he had served as Fianna Fáil health spokesman. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie
In the space of just a few days this summer the Department of Health lost its top three people — its minister, its chief medical officer and its secretary general.
Quite extraordinary when you consider there is a global pandemic.
A new minister, Stephen Donnelly, who had previously never held a Cabinet or a junior ministership, replaced Simon Harris, now the Minister for Further and Higher Education.
Deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn stepped into the position of his boss Dr Tony Holohan.
Dr Holohan stepped back from his post to spend time with his wife, who has terminal cancer, and their children.
Both of those were high profile moves. Less well known was the third departure at the same time, that of the secretary general Jim Breslin.
He, as it happens has also ended up in the Department of Further and Higher Education.
The senior civil servant would have been due to finish his seven stint in Health next year.
In his place deputy secretary general Colm O’Reardon was appointed acting secretary general.
A former Rhodes scholar at Oxford University he previously worked as a senior economics adviser to Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore when he was tánaiste.
Picture the scene on that early July day — a nightmare scenario really — where these three men suddenly find themselves in an office together.
They are charged with what would already be considered highly pressured jobs, but now with the added pressure of Covid-19.
Over the previous months it was a tight-knit group at senior level in the health department which had worked to control our Covid-19 response.
The impact of the immense personnel changes that week in July were described by one source as “being kind of physical” and “like a smack”.
However the new players simply had to get on with it “despite the sheer exhaustion”. They continue to do that to this day.
Two of them, Dr Glynn and Colm O’Reardon were clearly well immersed in the handling of the pandemic by that point.
Time off has not been something that has happened for them in 2020, given the relentlessness of the work.
Dr Glynn did not take over from Dr Holohan until July, but had been working alongside his boss since the beginning of the crisis.
That included appearing at the media briefings, at one time happening on a daily basis.
Dr Glynn only began working with the Department in 2018, having specialised in Public Health in 2015.
He had done a training rotation in the Department of Health under Dr Holohan.
The Galwayman initially qualified as a physiotherapist in 2002, before retraining. His CV, available online, is very impressive.
It was one thing to act up into the senior role but an added layer of difficulty was taking over from a man who was revered by people at that point.
Despite this, and his relative newness to the department, Dr Glynn has done a tremendous job.
It is also worth noting at this point that another very senior post in the department, chief nursing officer, was taken over in May by Rachel Kenna.
The job of secretary general of a government department usually take places behind the scenes.
But it is recognised that Colm O’Reardon has done very well in a doubly difficult situation — the fact of there being a pandemic, and him suddenly finding himself sitting in a chair which he had not expected to occupy.
What happens now is unknown. Either an open competition will occur for the position to be filled, or the Government could simply appoint someone.
This happened in 2018 when a new secretary general at the troubled Department of Justice was appointed.
Aidan O’Driscoll, who had a very good reputation, was moved from the same role in the Department of Agriculture.
Either way it is obviously desirable that something happens soon to take away any uncertainty from the Department of Health at such a dangerous time.
Of the newbie trio, by far the most focus, for the wrong reasons, has been on the health minister Stephen Donnelly.
Last week, when he feared he might have had Covid-19, on the day the Government’s “Living with Covid” plan was launched, must have been both worrying and mortifying for him.
The problem now, so to speak, is that this episode is seen as emblematic of the Wicklow TD’s time so far as minister.
He is not helped by the fact that Simon Harris, a constituency rival, is seen to “hang around” health like a former spouse refusing to accept that things have moved on.
The flip side is this particular Fine Gael Wicklow man is acknowledged to have done a really good job with Covid-19. He is still missed as health minister by significant sections of the public.
However during the government negotiations Fine Gael was determined not to hang on to health.
Fianna Fáil was told they’d had the portfolio for a decade, and how could the government look “new” if they retained it.
The “obvious” choice then was Stephen Donnelly. He had served as Fianna Fáil health spokesman. But close observers had serious concerns about his abilities.
He had a woeful general election campaign, including one truly awful Monday when he launched Fianna Fáil’s health policy in the afternoon, and that night took part in a health debate on the Claire Byrne Live show on RTÉ.
At the first event he appeared uncertain on the exact nature of certain party policies.
In RTÉ that night the strength of his performance was reflected in the fact that Simon Harris, representing the party that had held the health brief for so long and performed so poorly at it, ended up sounding like a better option.
Apart from last week’s misfortunes there have been other recent gaffes such as his remarks on trampoline usage and all risk being relative.
He has the added handicap of his own party not feeling that he is “of” Fianna Fáil after only joining that party in 2017.
In the Department of Health right now they are still getting the measure of their new minister.
However the word is out that the question, relating to the former management consultant: “Have you been ‘Stephen-splained’ yet?” is doing the rounds of the department’s corridors.
What stands strongly in his favour is that his boss Taoiseach Micheál Martin, cannot afford to lose another Fianna Fáil Minister from Cabinet.
The Taoiseach is said to be taking an exceptionally active interest in the department, as well as offering strong directions on the steps that need to be taken.
The announcement of the sizable €600m winter plan for the HSE is indicative of this.
So, given the year that it’s already had the Department of Health needs as much “steady as she goes” as can be found.
It’s unfortunate to say the least that the politician in charge has never been a minister before and, for a variety of reasons does not have the confidence of colleagues and some others familiar with him.
However we must hope that he proves to be a surprise package.
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