Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

It is extraordinary that it is not on the list the Taoiseach read out.

With regard to the view the Taoiseach has portrayed a number of times about these typical civil servants who would not know politics if it jumped up and bit them, I have a piece from the Sunday Independent which states "Taoiseach's communications unit goes into overdrive during Bertiegate". That seems to be political. It describes the detail the Taoiseach got, the names of the journalists and all that kind of information. Leaving that behind us and putting this into a general election context, that seems to be very political.

Discussions are taking place at another forum about a level playing pitch for the general election as between Members of this House who will contest again, people outside this House who will contest and so on. It seems Members on this side of the House are at a considerable disadvantage in that the same rules do not apply to Ministers. Ministers can proceed to do their normal business on the basis that it is different from their role as parliamentary representatives and representatives of their constituencies. Is it not the case that this unit, at the cost of more than €30,000 for the duration of the election campaign, confers an advantage on office holders on the opposite side of the House that does not exist for the benefit of Members on this side of the House?

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