Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Another technical difficulty which arises relates to the definition of the Houses of the Oireachtas as public bodies. Neither these Houses nor the Government are public bodies. Sinn Féin may come to realise that if it takes up office at some point in the future. A Government is not a public body; it is put in power in order that it might legislate. The definition of Government as a public body in the Bill would mean that budgetary decisions could not be made without the approval of State agencies or a State-appointed body.

Equality is a subjective concept. Someone might come before this House and propose that because of the mortgage difficulties which obtain, everyone should receive a write-down of 30% on his or her mortgage. That would be an equal measure but it would also be subjective because we would be giving a break to people who would not deserve it and we would probably not be giving enough assistance to those who require it. When we discuss equality, we should place it in a subjective context.

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