Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Obviously, I am clearly hitting a raw nerve with somebody here and they realise that the quality of the debate is no better than the 24-hour news cycle.

I hope we get more out of it. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, has reversed all of the changes made by the Fianna Fáil-led Administration to the Freedom of Information Act. At one point nobody could get any information under FOI about any State organisation because it did not suit the previous Government. It is because of the changes made by the Minister, Deputy Howlin, that all of this information is in the public domain and senior officials have been appointed to the organisations concerned to review what went on.

Deputy Boyd Barrett simply accuses people of wrongdoing and has no real interest in finding out the facts. He does not, in my view, really care what type of inquiry takes place. He believes he has done what he considers to be his duty to the people who elected him. We on this side of the House expect an awful lot more. We expect more from our Ministers and will expect more from the inquiry to be undertaken over the next number of months. The finance committee will support him in his proposal for a further inquiry if it believes that is what this country needs. I am certainly not going to hang anybody on the basis of the type of wild accusation that has been made here.

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