Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

When the Government was formed we committed ourselves to operating in a transparent way to ensure that all Ministers would be accountable to the House and, through the House, to the public. We introduced reform against a background of many years of complaints. There were inadequate procedures in place, so that if a Minister came in and did not give a full reply or if members of the Opposition or a Deputy asking a question were not satisfied with the reply, there was no recourse. We introduced a new procedure or Standing Order and we asked the House to agree that where a Member was not satisfied with a reply from a Minister, the Member could take the case to the Ceann Comhairle and the Ceann Comhairle could make a ruling on it. I am glad we did so and that the new procedure is being used. I believe this is the best and most respectful way that the Government can treat Members who have questions to be answered. Every Minister is accountable to the Dáil and its Members and is required to answer questions. I hope the procedure Deputy Ó Caoláin has used in respect of his questions to the Minister for Health will be used again by other Members because we believe in accountability and in providing answers to questions.

The Committee of Public Accounts is probably one of the most respected institutions in the country. It has a long record of doing fine work because it operates - it has operated until now, anyway - on a non-partisan basis. The procedure has been that a member of the Opposition is appointed to chair the committee and to conduct the business of the committee in an non-partisan, all-party way to hold individual Departments, the Accounting Officers of Departments and the Accounting Officers of public bodies to account for their financial management.

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