Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Perhaps to round up their brothers and sisters. It is not a new appointment; the position existed already. The Government of which Deputy Rabbitte was a member operated a more communist theory, in that there were lots of people and it employed one for one, as it were. There were 15 or 16 Ministers of State and an adviser for every one of them. It was the "one for everyone in the audience" syndrome. We changed that to having just one for all the Ministers of State. It reduced the numbers which was, perhaps, a more capitalist way of doing it.

See this speech in context