Health

Tony O’Brien: Cowen’s silly season HSE proposal shows where real dysfunctions lie

The Fianna Faíl TD should know that there is zero prospect of his suggestion to amalgamate the roles of HSE chief and Health secretary general being taken seriously

Barry Cowen: once again we see a government backbench TD playing the man, rather than taking any kind of political responsibility for the actions of his own government. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Last week, Paul Reid announced that his formal exit as chief executive of the HSE will be on October 3, bringing forward his departure from the end of the year by taking accrued annual leave. After two years where opportunities for him to take his allocation of annual leave were hard to come by, this is understandable. He will have served for three and half years by the time he leaves, but by any standards ...