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

We went so far as to suggest that we should adjourn the meeting and reconvene so that we could have access to the information. It was not forthcoming. Two things happened. We were asked to complete a process at committee not exactly blind but certainly without all the information. Now we are asked to clear not just that Estimate, but a whole set of them - Votes 12, 17, 25, 26, 30, 31, 32, 39 and 40 - many of which represent very substantial amounts of money. The biggest of them is the Health, HSE, Supplementary Estimate for €680 million.

We do not believe it is acceptable simply to rubberstamp these Estimates with no debate here in the Dáil. To make matters worse, in the case of the Estimate taken in our committee, it is without having had the information that we requested and was promised by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. He made a bit of a production around his trustworthiness and record for providing information on that occasion.

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