Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, was very clear. She accused the four members of the Economic Management Council of excluding big spending Government Departments from key budgetary discussions. She made this statement on the record, not in a hushed tone or in private, and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, expressed a similar concern. This is an issue in terms of the process of decision making, although I have no doubt both Ministers are well able to stand their ground and fight their corners. The issue is not one of individual personalities, however. In light of the decision to establish the Economic Management Council, a sort of inner sanctum of Cabinet and Government, it is important that the legislation state that all Cabinet Ministers are involved in the decision making process.