Travers Report - Scandal puts spotlight on the system

FORMER Health Minister Micheál Martin may very well feel rather self-satisfied that the Travers Report has exonerated him of any blame in relation to the nursing homes debacle, but it is an episode that sits uneasily with people.

The realisation that a situation could be allowed to continue for 30 years and culminate with the taxpayers facing a bill of up to €2 billion is just unacceptable.

It is also a shocking indictment of the degree of laxity in communication that existed in the Department of Health, and begs the question whether the condition is as abysmal in other government departments.