Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The Taoiseach did not answer the questions I asked as to whether he was personally aware that 150,000 letters were going out to pensioners. He also did not answer as to why there was no political accountability or responsibility for the decision to send out those letters. The Revenue Commissioners have confirmed to the Oireachtas committee that when they realised the scale and implications of this issue were so great, they decided to enter into discussions with the Department of Finance to ensure it was aware of the scale of it and the impact it would have. The Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance must have been aware of that.

In essence, the Taoiseach ducked the issue. The Budget Statement was the ideal opportunity to be up-front and honest with people and to state that an operation of an enormous scale, namely the sending of 150,000 letters to pensioners, was to take place. This is an enormous operation by any yardstick and the Revenue Commissioners recognised that and sent the information to the Department of Finance. However, the Taoiseach ducked the issue and decided to let the Revenue Commissioners send the letters out and not to mention that in the context of the Budget Statement. It is pathetic for the Taoiseach to come in now and say that it is hidden somewhere in the depths of the rain-forest of supporting budgetary documentation. The pensioners of Ireland deserved a bit better than that. If anything should result from this from the Taoiseach's perspective, it should be a greater degree of political accountability, honesty and transparency, which is something we are being lectured on ad nauseam by him since he came into office. What has happened is not good enough. The Taoiseach should have overseen a major communications programme on this issue, knowing, as he and the Minister for Finance did, that this would happen. He should have used the budget to do that.

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