Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When I raised the issue of water charges with the Taoiseach yesterday, he said the Government had not taken a decision, various matters have to be taken into consideration, and there is a need to assess a whole range of issues before any decision can be taken. He then pulled together an unscheduled Cabinet meeting and sent his spin doctors off to the media to give details of a decision that he told the Dáil yesterday he had not taken. This is the latest in a whole series of decisions in which the Government has by-passed the Dáil in favour of governing by press release and media spin. On each occasion, the Taoiseach shows contempt for the Oireachtas, the Opposition and for his own backbenchers, especially Labour Party backbenchers, but most of all for citizens who will be affected by his decisions. The fact that the Taoiseach called a special Cabinet meeting to deal with these issues is down to the way he is playing catch-up. One debacle follows another and it is clear that the Taoiseach is trying to kick for touch on this issue. He is governing by making it up as he goes along.

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