Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Is cuimhin liom uair cheana nuair a chuir mé ceisteanna ar an Taoiseach faoin ábhar seo. Nuair a mhol mé ag an am go mbfhéidir go raibh spiadóireacht polaitiúil ar siúl, dhiúltaigh sé é sin agus dúirt sé gurbh é an t-aon rud a bhí i gceist ná gearrtháin as nuachtáin agus téipeanna d'agallaimh raidió agus mar sin de. Más fíor sin, ní thuigim cén fáth nach bhfuil sé sásta na gearrtháin agus téipeanna sin a chur ar fáil go ginearálta. An bhfuil an aonad seo ag tabhairt tuairimí ar an nuacht don Rialtas, d'Airí nó do Rannóga Stáit?

On the previous occasion I questioned the Taoiseach on this matter, he forcefully rejected any suggestion that the communications unit is engaged in a type of political intelligence gathering and stated that it assembled newspaper clippings, transcripts of radio interviews and so forth and circulated these to Departments. If that is the case, I do not understand the reason this information cannot be made generally available. I presume it is made available in electronic format in the Civil Service system and could be circulated more widely. Is the collection of material such as newspaper clippings and information on radio and television interviews the extent of the communications unit's work or does it provide opinion or comment to Ministers?

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