Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

He says she is not up to the job. He says, "she is not equipped to deal with the complex issues facing her Department and neither is her Department". When the Tánaiste issued a statement denying he had said he had no confidence in her, in a further statement Deputy McGuinness claimed he said to her face at a meeting on 11 March that he had no confidence in her. He went on to say, "she has heard nothing and acted on nothing that business leaders have been telling her since her appointment".

If Deputy Kenny or I said any of that in the House in respect of the Tánaiste I know the kind of response the Taoiseach would give us. Today I want to know what is the Taoiseach's response to Deputy McGuinness and to the other members of his party who, in thinly disguised anonymity in the Sunday newspapers, have repeated virtually the same story.

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