Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

I hope the Ceann Comhairle will consider that my question is in order. To take 45 minutes to ask the Taoiseach when the committee last met is not a good use of parliamentary time. The limitations on party leaders or anyone else asking the Taoiseach a question are so strict that we are forced to ask questions about when the committee last met. I ask the Ceann Comhairle to bear in mind that we are attempting to address important issues here, not simply fill a calendar or inquire about diary entries. Will the Chair countenance the question that I propose to ask, namely, whether the Taoiseach accepts that the Cabinet committee on social inclusion and drugs should meet more frequently, given that there is growing inequality in the pathways to social inclusion? CORI published a report last month which clearly indicates that one quarter of Irish children and over one fifth of Irish people are at risk of poverty.

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