Accountability must be at the heart of the reforms we seek to make. The Dáil is not working as well as it might. The Government is running the country in an unaccountable manner and it is riding roughshod over this House. The filleting of the Freedom of Information Act, the constraining of the Equality Authority, the abolition of the Combat Poverty Agency, the shooting down of the Labour Party Private Members' Bill on protecting whistle blowers and the rejection of regulations on lobbyists all point in the direction of a Government which is opposed to subjecting its actions to scrutiny. The result of unaccountable Government is unimaginable failure. "Consensus" was a word that was unheard of when Fianna Fáil was riding high on the hog. This House should be aware that consensus does not mean cover up and collusion.

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