Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I ask the Taoiseach to be up-front with the Dáil and the people about a very fundamental issue. I was very surprised last week when it emerged, and was confirmed, that the publication of the comprehensive spending review would be held back until after completion of the budgetary and Estimates process. The Taoiseach said the Minister would not publish it.

In opposition, Fine Gael and the Labour Party waxed lyrical about an open and a transparent process on the budget. This is certainly not the case now. Each Department supplied the required information as early as last June and memos were circulated in July. The Taoiseach knows what is likely to be proposed. Will he tell us now and not one week after the elections on 27 October? The Taoiseach and his Ministers have repeatedly claimed they have revolutionised strategic planning in government. If they cannot even give us dates as to when decisions will be taken, how can we seriously believe this?

By law, the Taoiseach must propose spending figures well in advance of the budget and these must be voted on by the House. There are only weeks available for this to be done. If the Taoiseach will not publish anything and will not even say when basic information will be provided, the only implication to be drawn is that he is keeping the information hidden until after 27 October.

This issue is to be added to the list of broken election promises. The Government is delaying the publication of the comprehensive spending review when it knows, as we do, that essentially the work was completed by July. The Taoiseach has had the material from the Departments for three months and has had detailed reports for two months, so why is there a delay in publishing the comprehensive spending review?

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