Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The Taoiseach did not actually respond to the questions I put about accountability to the House with regard to his own work in co-ordinating economic policy across Government. What the Government is putting in place is a structure that shields the Taoiseach from any real accountability to the House on economic matters. That is reflected in his utilisation of Cabinet confidentiality in respect of the committees he has established and also by the disallowing or transfer of a range of questions that were put to him and other Ministers. This flies in the face of what the Government committed to in terms of increased transparency.

With regard to Question No. 7, the issue of increased transparency again arises. The Taoiseach has so far refused to release any information or any of the background material provided in the lead-up to the announcement of the jobs initiative. Did he at any stage ask for a briefing on the possible impact of the pension levy? Will he make this briefing material available to us? In addition, will he indicate to the House whether he personally made any attempt to implement the promise of a major jobs budget which he made last February? The Taoiseach said publicly that there would be a major jobs budget, but it was subsequently scaled down. Can he provide any insight into the interaction between him and the other Ministers when they talked him down from the precipice of the jobs budget, which became a mere budget-neutral jobs initiative?

See this speech in context