Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It has been cleared up because, as I heard on the grapevine, the Taoiseach went back to the Minister. The point is that the instinct of the Minister and the Department is to tell people nothing. They believe they do not have to account for this and that it is not their business. They believe it is someone else's business, although they are setting up the utility. They believe that, technically, they can get out of it and do not have to be hung on a hook on it. They believe it is someone else's hook. That is what went on. If the Taoiseach was honest, despite what he said, which I welcome, he would admit the deadline for the local elections was a key factor. The idea was to keep as much of this buried as possible until well after the local elections. The Government believed Mary and Joe Murphy might find out a lot after the elections and that it should ensure they would not find out anything before them.

The most dreaded person on the horizon is the one coming to install the water meter. I know this from having been on doorsteps. People are awaiting with dread the arrival of the meter man who is to install the meter in the footpath. This is the feeling in estates because of the lack of transparency and voluntary disclosure. There were 91 freedom of information requests. When people make such requests, they generally get to the bottom of some of the issues concerned and determine what is occurring within Departments and between Ministries. That is the difference. There is a fundamental lack of voluntary disclosure on many issues.

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