Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

When Deputy Gilmore raised his first matter, he expressed his disappointment at the failure of the Minister for Finance to approve a proposal that had been made. I remind him that the Minister has expressed his views on whether the proposal meets the transparency requirements he considers necessary in this case. The suggestion being made - that the Minister's failure to approve the proposal meant in some way that he was indifferent to this issue, that he was lax on the issue, or that he did not share the high standards being proposed by others in this regard - is not true, not fair, not just and not right.

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