Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

She just has this good feeling on behalf of Mayo. If she got as little for Mayo as the Taoiseach says, the people of Mayo got a very bad deal. However, the Taoiseach holds out the prospect of Deputy Flynn being made a Minister. That must be causing immense puzzlement on the Government backbenches. It is an extraordinarily timed intervention. I do not know who the Taoiseach says is claiming that he intervened with RTE. I merely point to the timing of an extraordinary public interview, followed a couple of days later by RTE caving in. If one believes in the tooth fairy one can say that was a coincidence, but there is a qualitative difference between RTE pursuing an Independent Deputy and being required to pursue and bankrupt someone who is a member of Fianna Fáil and for whom the prospect of office is being held out. The Taoiseach should not assume that his new Deputies or new Deputies on the Opposition side of the House are so naive that they cannot put two and two together.

Is there a deal with Deputy Flynn or was she telling an untruth when she gave that interview to the media? Is there an agreement or is there not and when are we going to see the terms of it?

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