Don't say we didn't brief you, Minister

During all the brouhaha about the Travers report last week, Mary Harney must have had a sinking feeling. In a quiet moment she must have realised that, while the report she commissioned may have revealed the truth about the last 30 years in the Department of Health, it also heralded at least 30 weeks of pure working hell for her.

That's because, for many of the 600 civil servants who work in the department's Dublin headquarters at Hawkins House, the Tánaiste is now the woman who shafted their boss; subjected their department to the ignominy of an inquiry; and exposed its administrative systems to public criticism.

Rightly or wrongly, the relationship between civil servants and ministers in this country has traditionally been one of mutual trust and protection, a case of: "you watch my back and I'll watch yours".

Ministers were expected to bat unreservedly for their departments and in return the mandarins were expected to look out for their minister. In co-operation lay collective survival and success.

Now, that harmonious relationship has been ruptured. The rules of engagement have suddenly been re-written. By squarely blaming civil servants for the illegal charges fiasco, the Travers report has set loose a serpent in the garden where Ministers and officials once strolled hand-in-hand.

Travers didn't hedge his bets, didn't soften his verdict. That verdict was that the imbroglio must be blamed, ultimately, on "poor overall corporate judgment in the Department – in relation to the operational, legal, financial and political significance of the issues surrounding the practice."

According to one source, staff at the department are "punch-drunk" and "reeling" from the Travers controversy. Mistrust, suspicion and paranoia rule. "Suddenly, we're rocketed into a situation of 'when did that file leave your hand?' or 'when did it leave mine?'" he says. The Travers Report has created a very significant change in the culture and working environment, not just in the Department of Health but also between government ministers and civil servants generally.

Civil servants hunkering down and adopting a permanent defensive position is the last thing the Tánaiste needs right now. When she moved into Health last September, she was full of the notion of reform and had an ambitious programme to implement in a tight timeframe.

She listed her priorities as sorting out the chaos in the accident and emergency services; slashing waiting lists; and promoting a greater role for private healthcare in the provision of primary/GP and hospital services. But to make it all happen and be an effective minister, she needs a compliant, supportive, loyal and demonstrably competent department at her back.

Not surprisingly then, last Wednesday, when the report was published, Mary Harney went out of her way on several occasions to make positive and complimentary noises about her staff at Hawkins House. She told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health that there were lots of recommendations for change in the report and that she looked forward to working with her officials to implement them.

"Over 600 civil servants work in the Department of Health and Children. They work in very pressurized circumstances. Very often they do a hard job with huge commitment, dedication and professionalism. And I stand over those comments and they are not incompatible with 'systemic mal-administration' by the way. We all make mistakes, including politicians and we should acknowledge that," she said.

The Tánaiste showed courage by appointing John Travers to investigate matters as soon as she encountered serious evidence of incompetence in her department. But now she is faced with consequences she may not have anticipated: trying to reform a health service when the instrument of reform is her own department, which is completely demoralised by her own actions.

The danger for Harney is that, post-Travers, officials in her department may adopt a default position of "covering your ass" (CYA) on all and every occasion. The paper-trail which dried up considerably following the introduction of the Freedom of Information Act may be about to stage a come-back. CYA may drive many civil servants into over-informing their minister about every thing; into pointing out and putting on the record every possible angle. Don't say we didn't brief you, Minister.

Such a scenario would be a working nightmare for any minister. It would be like trying to make progress on an over-crowded information highway. Where, up to now, officials would have weeded out unnecessary detail, from here on, every little bit of data could end up on the Minister's desk, unedited.

Mary Harney and her advisors could yet find themselves swamped in an avalanche of extraneous detail. Ursula Halligan is TV3's Political Editor and Presenter of The Political Party, TV3 on Sundays at 5pm