Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)

If the Minister continues with that attitude, I despair of him doing anything to correct the mess he is in. He has displayed arrogance throughout the debates on this issue. It was evident at the committee meeting on 18 December when experts from both sides, departmental officials and representatives of the manufacturers of the equipment appeared before the committee to discuss the issue and answer questions. We should have been allowed to continue that meeting on the afternoon of 18 December but Government members of the committee suddenly put a motion before the committee which resulted in the collapse of the meeting ten minutes after it had resumed its deliberations after lunch. The committee had intended to sit all day.

The contract was signed the next day, 19 December. We subsequently discovered that €20 million worth of the machines had been imported two months before.

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