Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the good work that was done in respect of the consultation with civic society during the summer months. In light of that, what does the Minister make of the open letter yesterday from eight civil society organisations - the National Women's Council of Ireland, FLAC, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the Children's Rights Alliance, Open, Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, Equality and Rights Alliance, and Amnesty - in respect of a decision taken by the Dáil Committee on Procedure and Privileges to shut down access to the audio-visual room for all party briefings? It flies in the face of any commitment to open Government and transparency, such as the Minister has articulated, to shut down what is essentially a space for civil society, interest groups and others to come to brief members. The decision by the committee was taken on foot of a briefing given by the ESB group of unions in respect of their pension fund and serious issues for Government and the public purse. I am very concerned about this and I would like to know what the Minister thinks.

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