Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

My apologies. I came in literally two minutes after the Chairman finished with this item. I was caught in traffic.

This has been going on for a long time. I have been asking questions about this since before last summer. To provide a little bit of context, this information was previously given out in response to parliamentary questions. When I looked for a subsequent update on the continuing costs, it was denied to me under the general data protection regulation, GDPR.

I also asked questions regarding the two-payments system when it comes to public servants, that is, one can only get one payment if, for instance, one works for a university, is a member of a board or anything like that. I understand that a number of people who are being paid under this actually do work in other public sector roles as well. I was absolutely shocked that this information was denied to me. I was further shocked that the Attorney General's advice was that this information cannot be given. I had help from the Ceann Comhairle in this regard, as he felt that questions should be answered. However, when it came to the advice from the Attorney General, that is where it stopped because, as we all know, such advice can never be published.

I brought this matter to the attention of the Committee of Public Accounts because I felt that it was necessary to use this forum to get some leverage as regards how we are going to get this information. Frankly, the volume of money that is being paid is a scandal but nobody knows where the money is being spent, who it has been given to, for what and in what detail. Furthermore, this matter creates a worrying precedent in cases where people are being paid, if they are constituted as individuals. This precedent that has been set by the Government means that if one constitutes oneself as an individual for payment purposes-----