John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

The Minister's position is becoming weaker by the minute. Is he aware that people see his position as entirely hypocritical? He was the person who leaked information about a journalist to another journalist. This journalist was a citizen. The Minister talks about protecting the rights of citizens, but what about the rights of Mr. Frank Connolly? Is he a citizen? Should he have been protected in the same way as other citizens?

The Minister claims to like this particular journalist, but I do not know. I do know that the Minister has explained to the House that it was the call of the Secretary General, and then Mr. Birmingham. Who calls the shots in this Department? Does the buck stop with the Minister? Was it the case that he did not want to know because it was too sensitive? If Watergate had happened in this country, Bernstein and Woodward might have been arrested. There is a whiff of dictatorship coming from the benches opposite. I regret I must say that, but this is a serious matter. When journalists are being arrested in a democracy, we must all sit up and take notice. The Minister has a lot of explaining to do. I want him to explain in detail, because he will not get out of this one so easily.

See this speech in context