They are not required to perform any of the many onerous tasks concerning the administration or the legal processing involved. What they are required to do is to set up processes and institutions so that a successful outcome can be reached. That is the essence of political responsibility. It is very difficult to apportion blame on administrators or Department officials or legal experts without inside knowledge about what has been going on, and it is quite possible that all of the parties contributing to the work of the Commission have been doing so in good faith. But when a project like the Laffoy Commission is allowed to become subject to such lengthy delays and ultimately to lose momentum, then the politicians need to be held to account.
Modern Governments have extensive resources.
If something is a high priority for a Government it will be dealt with regardless of the difficulties. Researchers into public opinion have been predicting for some time that the deciding factor in the next General Election in the Republic will be the health service and hospital waiting lists. Despite the complexity of the issue, Bertie Ahern's Government has been pulling out the stops to get the health service sorted. By way of comparison it is impossible to read the Commission's Interim Report without concluding that investigating the industrial school scandal occupies a very low position on the Government agenda. Specifically, Micheal Martin should have foreseen that a compensation mechanism of some sort needed to be set up alongside the Laffoy Commission.