Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I will start at the end. I will not get into what the Minister of State did when he had responsibility for the elderly, where he worked hard, and for transport. I am more concerned about the issues that have come to light in recent days. I discussed these issues on Monday morning with the Minister of State, Deputy Callely. There were issues centering on his attitude to the staff in his Department, a number of private secretaries and some of the issues that have arisen from his dealing with staff. I told him that he would have to change his attitude and behaviour towards the staff who work for him. The Government works closely with public servants and obviously at times there are difficulties, but people must be dealt with in a proper fashion.

From 7.30 this morning I chaired the Cabinet meeting on the budget. I heard these reports, which were referred to me last night, that an issue was raised. I tried to contact the Minister of State, Deputy Callely, last night and my office tried to contact him very early this morning. I have not been able to talk to him about these serious issues. They come on top of light about issues that I have had to deal with in the past few days about carpets, photographs and other issues. I hope to speak to the Minister of State, Deputy Callely, later today.

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