Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

He also, I think, waved his hand in the air on the issue of under age asylum seekers. One could watch the videorecording to confirm that. Secretaries General of Departments do not face the people at election time. They tell us how to spend and mind money, which is their job at which they work hard and that is why they are paid €150,000 per year. Calling the shots on this Bill is not the job of any Secretary General. It is not up to them to have the final word on negotiations and issues that have deeply affected many people in this country for 14 years.

The Government is suffering from terminal compassionate fatigue. It has lost its courage in facing up to Secretaries General of Departments. Who commissioned the PPARS system? The Minister of State and the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children did not sit down at a terminal and work it out. Civil servants did that, but the Department of health and Children had to clear up the mess. The Minister of State should have courage, talk to the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children before we conclude and bridge the small gap.

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