Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I have the absolute details and it sounded a little like the five sorrowful mysteries. Deputy Kenny was not Taoiseach in 2009. He put a cap of €92,000 on the pay of special advisers. Two of his special advisers are earning €168,000. I asked him to explain how he had circumvented this cap. Last week I asked him if he would give a commitment not to break the pay cap for the next CEO of Allied Irish Bank, but he would not do so. He did, however, clearly rule out any reversal of the cuts to pensions. We now know what is happening in terms of the Government's commitments and its rhetoric of sharing the people's pain.

Rather than putting a supplementary question, I will put the same question again. How did the Taoiseach manage to circumvent the publicly stated pay cap of €92,000 for special advisers, given that two of them are now being paid €168,000? Does he think this fits with the great pain people are feeling due to all stealth taxes and household charges? I ask him to tell us how he managed to do this.

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