Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be happy to hear a response to my outburst. It is not something I oppose lightly. I opposed it from the beginning. Family members opposed it too. They feel that they should not be accused because somebody in a high vaulted tower accuses me, for example. I do not encourage and I do not involve myself in any kind of financial manipulation. If anyone wants to accuse me of that, let them come forward or leave it.

On the question, I accept what the officials are saying with regard to the reasons for it. There are reasons for everything and there are ways and means of dealing with issues. Like the Chairman, I do not happen to agree with the application of this particular rule as it is, just as I did not agree with the GDPR. I opposed that from the beginning on the basis that I was an elected public representative, elected by the people in a way that does not apply in most other EU countries, which is the single transferable vote. This does not require me getting permission from anybody to rise on their behalf or against them. There is a distinct difference in the way governments and people look at this in other countries. In other countries there are people who hold public office who are never elected anywhere. They could be associates of anything. They were never elected anywhere by anybody. They now have the same powers that we have. By "we", I mean elected public representatives. They do not have to admit anything, they do not have to do anything, and they just serve their time. Some of them get into some funny scrapes from time to time. Do not forget, however, that they were never elected.

In the heel of the hunt I would like more of an explanation as to why it is thought that politicians have to be treated in a different way as politically exposed. Lots of other people are politically exposed by virtue of whom they associate with one way or another. Nobody has applied any kind of restriction on their behaviour as has been the case with politicians in this country. I am willing to hear from anybody