Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak to the legislation and I acknowledge the provision of Friday Dáil sittings by the Government Chief Whip. I know some people have been critical of this process, which has led to backbenchers being provided with time and engagement with people like the Minister of State.

However, he has shown a welcome level of engagement.

Before I deal with the crux of the Bill, Deputy Pearse Doherty in his usual colourful and irrelevant fashion discussed transparency. He was critical of the Taoiseach using State services to attend EU meetings, but he omitted to tell the House that, between 2001 and 2010, some £4,232,868 was paid to Deputy Adams, Mr. Pat Doherty, MP, MLA, Ms Michelle Gildernew, MP, MLA, Mr. Martin McGuinness, Deputy First Minister, and Mr. Conor Murphy, MP, for their non-attendance at Westminster. While Deputy Pearse Doherty will try to be all things to all people and claim that Sinn Féin is great and its members love to wrap the cloak of austerity around themselves, Sinn Féin must be truthful with people. Its members are drawing massive sums of money from Her Majesty's Treasury in London, taking the Queen's shilling, and have no problem with their non-attendance at a Parliament with which they have significant ideological differences. In fairness to the Dáil, Sinn Féin Deputies would do well to tell the entire truth when they pontificate about the costs of politics in this State.

Deputy Finian McGrath made another politically opportunistic contribution this morning and tried to be all things to all people. His comments yesterday were the most cynical display of political opportunism that I have seen in the recent past. He and a few of his colleagues tried to throw an unnecessary spanner into the works of an important issue, namely, tomorrow's children's referendum. Worse still was the contribution made on the "Six One News" by another member of that group, also in respect of the children's referendum, in which he made an unnecessary personal attack on the Ceann Comhairle.

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