Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I am a Member of the Opposition and it is completely legitimate for me to put the question to the Minister of State who makes provision in sections 5, 6 and 7 of the Bill to appoint civil servants for fixed terms or special projects. We are absolutely entitled to ask the Minister of State to explain how this would operate. It is a legitimate question for the Opposition in Parliament to ask the Minister of State to account for such matters. In the same way it is completely legitimate to ask the Minister of State to account for how the area he oversees purchased a site for a jail through a committee of civil servants. In that case the price of the land rose from agricultural value by multiples of ten.

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