Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have a very brief point of clarification. Deputy McAuliffe's defence of his colleagues is admirable. My point is a different one. I am not at all suggesting that members of Government parties should not criticise a Government. In fact, I would encourage them to do it as often as possible. My point is a fundamentally different one. I used the example of the Planning Regulator because the Planning Regulator is often criticised for policy decisions of the Government. The Planning Regulator's job is to ensure local authority compliance with those decisions. One of the frustrating things about the way in which the national planning framework was approved on the previous occasion was that it created a situation whereby some Government backbenchers have been able to criticise the Planning Regulator rather than criticise the Government, which Deputy McAuliffe is defending their right to do and I encourage him to do it. This is because they did not have to vote on the plan because the requirement for a vote was evaded by the confidence and supply Government. The national planning framework was a decision of the Government. If people have a criticism of it, and there are some areas about which I have criticism, that criticism should be directed at the people who made the decision. This is the point I am making. I champion every Government backbencher who wants to criticise the Government. I would join them happily on the floor to do so. It is a fundamentally different point from the one Deputy McAuliffe seems to think I was making.