Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes. It is not my practice to have a special adviser for every different policy issue. I could do so but I do not want to and do not intend to do so. I could have one for housing, one for agriculture, one for Europe and one for Northern Ireland. One could do it. I could have a whole cabinet of maybe 20 or 22 special advisers. I decided not to do that. We have Government Departments and Ministers, each of whom has their own advisers. Rather than trying to replicate every Department in my Department, I decided to have a smaller number of advisers than the previous Taoiseach, the Taoiseach before him and the Taoiseach before him. I rely on the Department of Finance and finance advisers for advice on finance. I use the same arrangement with housing and health and have a smaller number of advisers who have a few portfolios each. If the Deputy is advocating that I take on more advisers, I will give that consideration.