Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

Have the orders transferring functions from members of Cabinet to Ministers of State been completed? If not, will they be completed before the recess? I raise this matter owing to my concern about an announcement last week by the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Alexandra White, who, in disapproving of a pamphlet issued by the Migrant Rights Centre, stated: "My office, as the responsible authority for the European Integration Fund, could not be associated with any publication criticising Ministers and their policies, still less with criticism which amounted to accusations of bad faith, nor could it support attacks on other politicians."

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