Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 7 September 2021
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence
Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence
Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source
I thank the Minister. Everybody who is watching this at home would say that it stinks, and I do not believe anything we have heard today would change their opinion. In fact, there are now questions for the Minister for Finance as well as to what his role was in this process. For the ordinary Joe and Jane Soaps watching this, what they see is somebody who has access to very senior politicians availing of that access to secure employment for herself. The Minister says that is not lobbying, but most people at home would say it is lobbying because it is seeking to influence the outcome.
It seems it is not just the Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, who delivers for his friends. It seems this is the way Fine Gael does its business. We know from the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, that Katherine Zappone called him about an introduction to Samantha Power and he suggested she should talk to the Minister, Deputy Coveney. Did the Minister make that call or did Katherine Zappone phone him?
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