Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

My question is all about one topic, public money. The Ceann Comhairle knows well that asking about the Minister who oversees that spending is asking on one topic. How can the Taoiseach say that the Minister is exonerated when Mr. Dermot Quigley's report states there is no comprehensive inventory of work done under the PR contract in question, that monitoring and recording of the work done was not satisfactory, and in the case of a number of areas of work, as well as support work at various international meetings, he was not convinced that the services were fully within the scope of the contract? Is the Taoiseach serious when he says the Minister is exonerated? Is he going to lay out criteria to ensure we do not have a repeat of this debacle? Will he set out criteria with regard to foreign travel for consultants, fund raising by consultants for their ministerial employers and for the hiring of consultants? Will he set out performance indicators to measure achievements and performance? Will the Taoiseach put these measures in place and ensure we do not have a repeat of this debacle?

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