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"Ms O’Brien said on Monday she believed strongly that if the information was published it would mean civil servants not declaring risks fully in future, for fear of their work being published and “embarrassing ministers”.

If a civil servant cannot properly and objectively list risks and defend them in public they should not be in the job. The argument advanced by Ms O'Brien is akin to saying her staff are spineless and without principle. That may be true but it is reform of her staff that is needed not a cloak of secrecy to hide their failings.