Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The Taoiseach is not clear. He made all manner of ridiculous commitments during the election and before the election and he has abandoned them. The Taoiseach should acknowledge that he has abandoned them. That is all. There are no specifics in terms of the size of the office of an Tánaiste and how many staff are there and so on. I would appreciate if the Taoiseach could give us some real figures behind that office. The Taoiseach used the term "a small number of staff". Will he provide the actual number of staff who will be supporting the Tánaiste in that role?

In terms of the EU co-ordination the decision to transfer the entire European Union section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to the Taoiseach's control is rather surprising given that co-ordination between the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of the Taoiseach was and always has been excellent. Indeed the 2004 EU Presidency was a model Presidency of the council and was described as such by all throughout Europe. The Taoiseach should explain why he has changed this successful formula. It seems to be a solution in search of a problem. I am keen to get the rationale behind the Taoiseach's decision because the EU section has a broader, wider and deeper integration throughout the entire operation of the diplomatic service. In practice our entire diplomatic service is focused on European matters and the sections in daily contact with our embassies in EU countries remain in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The integration and co-ordination pertaining to Europe within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will be significantly undermined by the Taoiseach's decision to take the specific section dealing with EU matters out of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and land it in splendid isolation in the Department of the Taoiseach. I do not believe the Taoiseach has given a proper rationale for why he has decided to do that.

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