Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome all the representatives to the meeting. I wish to explain how and why I am here and why I am speaking now. I was ejected from the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform as a result of a vote last July. It was a pity because I was one of the best attenders of the committee and I made many contributions. I want everyone to know this. The reason I am speaking now for only five minutes is that I am not a member of the committee. I am a second-class citizen; I am what one would call a parliamentarian leper. That is a pity.