Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

In the past, sections dealing with the public service, economics and infrastructure had an independent existence within the Department of the Taoiseach independent of servicing a Cabinet committee. I wish to clarify that this remains the case. I am concerned that the Standing Orders of the House may allow a situation to develop in which the Taoiseach would not have to answer questions about the general work of his Department under those headings. I ask the Taoiseach to confirm that he does not intend that to be the case and that the work of his Department will not be hidden behind Cabinet confidentiality.

I have raised in the Dáil on a number of occasions the fact that Ministers and spokespersons have been able to make detailed statements about the agendas of the Cabinet and its sub-committees. For example, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, briefed newspapers about the agenda of the economic infrastructure sub-committee. I ask this basic question: Why should the Dáil be limited by Cabinet confidentiality in what it can discuss while no such limit is placed on Ministers and advisers in regard to the agenda and issues to be discussed by these committees?

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