How did Minister get it so wrong?

THE public should be uneasy about what is happening in the Department of Health when the Minister himself, Micheál Martin, does not seem to know what is going on in the midst of the savage cuts he has instituted in recent days.

The Minister professed surprise at both the cut in the domiciliary care allowance and the job cuts announced this week by the Western Health Board (WHB).

Initially it was suggested that the filling of 800 posts in the health service would be frozen nationally, but when the WHB was instructed to implement its share of those cuts, it announced it was axing 200 jobs.