Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I find that even more shocking. To some extent the Minister is an apprentice Minister for Finance. We know that he has worked very hard on this issue but until six or seven months ago the Taoiseach had been Minister for Finance for several years. He was regarded as somebody with a great deal of expertise, insight and knowledge of his portfolio and brief. He is also the Taoiseach. I do not understand the operation of a Government where this report was not read, analysed, commented on, where people were not briefed and the matter was not discussed by the Taoiseach, the Minister for Finance, the senior advisers making presentations and senior Ministers such as the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, if not the whole Cabinet. I can understand that the Minister might have been afraid it would leak. Did the Green Party Members even hear about it? It makes one wonder. This indicates a breakdown in what should be the normal working rules expected of a Cabinet, as in Chubb and Farrell's description of how Seán Lemass ran his Cabinets. This was one of the most important decisions in a series of decisions which have been so important and so difficult in the context of what has been happening here since late last August.

The Minister said yesterday that he has been working day and night on this since then. I accept that but it is unbelievable that the apprentice Minister's master who is only one step above him, having been elevated to the key job, does not get the report. He is not here today.

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