Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The first torpedo has been fired in respect of this budget day. Some time ago the Taoiseach said in the House:

Deputy Kenny and I have been Members of the House for long enough to know that there is a code of ethics whereby those who have been elected to the House try to remain elected. That is the code of ethics in this House.

This morning brought news of another indiscretion by the Minister of State, Deputy Callely. This is not just an isolated incident. The Taoiseach appointed the Minister of State, Deputy Callely and, in his judgment, he deemed him to be a fit person to hold down a substantial public brief. When he had responsibility for the elderly, Paul Murray of Age Action Ireland said:

We never found him to be totally engaged or to fully understand the issues in an Irish or international context. He was difficult to deal with. Overall his performance was disappointing. The real losers were the elderly.

The Travers report stated that the Minister of State, Deputy Callely, was so worried and concerned about the illegality of nursing home charges that he decided to personally talk to the Taoiseach and to the then Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin. That was the last we saw of that. Perhaps he was too busy choosing the colour scheme for his house.

The Taoiseach was obviously so impressed with the Minister of State, Deputy Callely, that he gave him responsibility for Dublin transport and traffic. The website of the Department of Transport states: "An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern TD, paid tribute to Minister Callely for his tremendous work and the solid base he put in place in health and asked him to apply his talents to the challenging transport issues." What did the commuters in Dublin do to deserve to have this great honour bestowed upon them? His tenure in the Department of Transport has been characterised by regular high profile announcements about preventing toll increases, double-decker trains and crash barriers on the M50. As the senior Minister commented, some of his recent pronouncements are just guesswork and not based on fact.

The latest revelation is that the Minister of State, Deputy Callely, had work carried out on his house by a major contractor, for which he did not need to pay. This is another incident which causes very serious and grave doubts among the public about the capacity of this Minister of State to carry on. In his discussions yesterday with the Minister of State, Deputy Callely, did the Taoiseach raise this matter? What did the Taoiseach say to the Minister of State about what he should do?

See this speech in context