Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

He went on to say:

... the Minister was acting in a private capacity. It was not in pursuance of his ministerial duties that this issue arose.

It is true that the Minister was acting. He was acting the maggot, as is his well-established inclination.

Let us take a look at the facts behind this story. They are, of course, totally different from the assertions made in the Taoiseach's vain attempt to dismiss the Minister's actions as something personal or unconnected to his political life and responsibilities. The Minister, who is a Deputy for Limerick East, was stung by a political charge from Mr. Maurice Quinlivan, then a Sinn Féin local government candidate, in the run-up to the June local and EU elections last year. The charge was that the Minister was wasting taxpayers' money by having at his disposal six civil servants to assist with his constituency work. This was a political - not a personal - charge. The charge was about the deployment of public money allocated to the Minister's office, and concerned the Minister, Deputy O'Dea, in his capacity as a Deputy and in his ministerial role.

The Minister chose to respond in a most scurrilous, despicable and personal way by falsely and outrageously linking Maurice Quinlivan to the operation of a brothel in Limerick city. The Minister is a political animal and has one of the highest personal votes in the country. That must be acknowledged. He knew very well what he was doing, even though his tongue often runs ahead of his brain. He was trying to prevent an electoral breakthrough by Sinn Féin and Maurice Quinlivan in Limerick City, which the Minister regards as his territory - his Fianna Fáil fiefdom.

See this speech in context