Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The unit is just a listening post for the Government and its use has been questionable from the beginning. Ministers and their immediate staff are perfectly capable of reading newspapers themselves and there is no need for others to read them for them or send them on transcripts, copies or faxes. At a time when teaching assistants are being removed from special needs children, the book grant is being taken away from disadvantaged children and vaccinations for 12 year old girls are withdrawn, the communications unit is a luxury the State can do without. The Taoiseach and his Ministers would be well able to live without it. I am aware the amount saved would not be large in the overall context, but shutting down the unit would be a signal that the Government is cutting its costs and expenditure at a time when other people are being asked to cut theirs.

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