Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

This is a very vexed issue for me. With respect to the Chief Whip and the Taoiseach I ask them to pay heed to the points I am making. I have endeavoured over a protracted period to ensure access for me and my colleagues in the Sinn Féin Party to committees to be established by this motion. As we speak there is no such facilitation. The confusion, with respect to the Chief Whip, is fuelled by the information he has provided over a period at respective Whips' meetings. A formula involving the division of 11 Members from the floor of this Chamber onto each of the committees, comprising six for the Government parties and five for the Opposition — broken up into four Fine Gael Members and one Labour — excludes the other voices in this House. Yet the Chief Whip advises in the most recent missive to the Whips' meetings and in engagement I have had with him, directly, that Sinn Féin, with four Members, is entitled to at least three seats; the other Independent Deputy not aligned to the Government arrangement is also entitled to representation.

Whatever the issue about four or three as regards the Sinn Féin membership, I have been meeting with the other parties in Opposition, primarily Fine Gael, over the recent past, as it has the understanding, at least, that it has the lion's share of Opposition opportunities. The Labour Party has just one member on each of the committees and is hardly going to vacate access in order to accommodate another party representative.

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