Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)

A large number of my parliamentary questions to the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism have been returned to me this morning or passed on to other Departments with the advice that they are not the responsibility of the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism. Whose responsibility are they? For example, one of my questions asked the Minister about the discussions he has had with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform in regard to Garda vetting of persons involved in sport. That question has been passed to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. It seems the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism has no responsibility to initiate any discussion on such Garda vetting. It is a ridiculous situation. I do not know whether quangos are running the State or if the Minister is responsible for his Department.

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