David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The media reports, of 8 October and 18 October, state Mr. McEnery made a contribution in which he talked about agreeing a cost of care, equal treatment of the same and similar nursing homes and that there was immediate intervention, following his contribution, from legal advisers, who said there was a very serious danger of discussing anti-competitive behaviour. Therefore, they were directly responding to a contribution Mr. McEnery made. That is an account of what is in the media.

That, obviously, would be very troubling for me and, I imagine, very troubling for Mr. McEnery. If he has read those media reports and also the notes that we cannot discuss here - and they say very similar things and chime very much with what is in the media reports - that would be very concerning. It would be very concerning if the media accounts were true and if Mr. McEnery did in fact say these things. That would amount to advocating anti-competitive practices, would it not?