Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

It proves beyond any doubt that there are more gardaí now than there were in 1997. All Members knew that. Since then however, we have had an extra 500,000 people as well as a few hundred thousand extra crimes. He indicts Deputy Bruton for comparing the end of the year, 31 December with 31 December. He states that one should compare yesterday, 21 March with 21 March. I have some difficulty with this.

He goes on to state that in Deputy Bruton's case, "solely relying on the response to a narrow technical question produced an extremely misleading impression". The only meaning one can draw from that is that Members should not rely on answers to parliamentary questions from his Department any more.

However, that is not the best bit. He finishes by stating, "for those who are making statements based on statistical information and indeed those receiving statements, my Department's door remains open to provide background briefing on the context in which that information should be viewed". Is the Minister saying that we should clear our press statements with him in future?

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