Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

Parliamentary questions to the Minister for Health and Children have always been batted away. Many Opposition Deputies - I pay tribute to Deputy Durkan in this regard - have been upset by the practice of precluding Members from asking questions about policy, not to speak of the detailed issues of administration to which the Minister alluded.

The Minister for Transport is another serious Cabinet offender in ducking ministerial responsibilities. Last Thursday, when taking questions in the Chamber, he again excelled himself by dodging a range of crucial questions I tried to ask him on behalf of my Labour Party colleagues. They included questions on safety issues related to the €120 million motorway service station programme, including the decision to build only three such service stations, and on passenger safety and security on public transport. Having refused to answer a question about the College Green bus gate, the Minister then had the cheek, at about ten o'clock last Thursday night, to start discussing the issue on the floor of the House and lecturing Labour Party councillors in Dublin.

The Minister has also refused to discuss waiting lists for the national car test, proposals for the development of the aircraft maintenance industry, specifically a successor business to SR Technics, and dwindling aviation passenger volumes. This morning, I had to ask the Taoiseach to request that the Minister come before the House to discuss the devastating cutbacks proposed at Aer Lingus. The Minister will not discuss the travel departure tax, an issue he passed on to the Minister for Finance, or the roll-out of infrastructure for the national electric car programme, which he has passed to the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Eamon Ryan, who does not answer many questions in the House either.

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