Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I support my colleague on this issue which has bothered me for a long time. I have also tried to get this information. It is wrong that civil servants protect other civil servants. Why should the Freedom of Information Act cover Oireachtas Members, including Ministers, while senior public servants, including county managers, assistant county managers and directors of services are protected under the Act? Why should the taxpayer not know what these people are being paid for and why they receive these bonuses? Why should these people tell us how great they are? For example, the local authority in my county got rid of the refuse service and the mobile libraries this year. Are senior staff being given bonuses to take away services from the people?

The taxpayers of County Mayo and everywhere else are entitled to this information. They should know why these staff receive the bonuses, the amount of the bonuses and where the money comes from. The awards are funded by the taxpayer and local authority members should discuss these awards every year. A report should be brought before them and it should be listed on the agenda for discussion to see if the officials are entitled to a bonus. It is wrong that they are being protected by the Government and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and it is wrong that legislation was passed which provides for the protection of these people.

We cannot have two laws in this country. This is not Russia. We knew members of the establishment in Russia looked after one another but this is supposed to be a democracy. If information about Oireachtas Members can be published by every daily newspaper, the local newspapers should know how much county managers and directors of services receive in bonuses, especially when the people pay for them. They should at least know how much is being paid.

How can I obtain this information? When I table parliamentary questions, I do not want to be told to go to the Oireachtas Library. If the Minister of State's Department continues to issue such replies, I will make the staff busy because I will table many parliamentary questions and make many freedom of information requests. I am warning the Minister of State and his Department that if they want to play that game, I can play it too.

See this speech in context