Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We get an opportunity once every six weeks to ask a Minister questions and to hold a Department to account. It is the small opportunity we get in an open democracy to determine whether we can obtain the truth concerning the areas we represent. I understand that the Minister, Deputy Michael Ring, is filling in and doing his best in this scenario. Surely, however, someone has gone to the office of Minister of State, Deputy Joe McHugh, and told him about this. We are half an hour, or nearly 40 minutes into questions. The Minister of State has a responsibility to sit in this Chamber and answer these questions. He is a newly minted Minister of State. That he is not here on the first occasion presented is a disgrace. It is a poor sign of politics. We may have to wait until the end of July or even September before we get another opportunity to ask questions. The Minister present does not have the information and it is not his fault. Is there any way the House can ask Minister of State to attend?

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