Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

It is a system which allows, to a certain extent, leaders of the Opposition parties to make the occasional point or raise an issue on the Order of Business but if a backbencher has a serious concern it is almost impossible to determine where it can be raised during the day. It is almost impossible to raise it on the Order of Business. In my experience from my time in this House, there is nothing more frustrating than the system whereby I ask the Taoiseach a question, the answer to which I know is on a piece of paper in front of him but which he knows he can get away with not answering. That is a particularly frustrating and difficult system. I encourage the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to act on his frustration and, together with his party, determine what can be done to change the current system because it does not serve anyone in this House particularly well.

An example of that arose on Tuesday when I had asked the Minister for Transport what was for me an important question on an issue which has some consequence for the development of our city, Dublin. It was to ask the Minister when the Government had decided to invest in the upgrade of the M50, which was reported in the newspapers in recent weeks. It is approximately a €500 million project which no doubt will go to public private contract.

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