Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

It was mentioned in the reply that there had been 80 requests. Will the Taoiseach comment on this? The number and cost of freedom of information requests could be reduced if Ministers replied to parliamentary questions. The pension levy is a classic illustration, in that a simple question on whether the Taoiseach had received advice could have been answered in the House. However, he chose not to do so and we needed to go through the arduous freedom of information process to find out the answers. Lo and behold, we found out that he had received plenty of advice from the Department of Social Protection and other Departments and agencies. This cuts to the core of the lack of transparency.

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