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

The very clear evidence produced in the media through freedom of information is that there was an effort to delay implementation of the request of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform that overpayments be returned by Ministers of State, particularly those at the Cabinet. Why did this delay happen and why was there an attempt to mislead a journalist about the state of the issue? The legislation clearly limits the Government to two Ministers of State receiving the extra allowance but it is silent about how to decide which Minister of State gets the allowance. Traditionally, the Chief Whip would be seen as a senior Minister of State at Cabinet. How was it decided that the Chief Whip, rather than either of the Ministers of State, Deputies Finian McGrath or Paul Kehoe, would be the one not to receive the allowance? Now that the Taoiseach has expanded the number attending Cabinet to an unprecedented four - we will go through the specifics on delegation orders later - to sort out internal Fine Gael problems, will he explain what process he undertook to decide who would receive the allowance and who would not? Will he confirm whether the Ministers of State, Deputies Finian McGrath and Paul Kehoe, refused to forgo the allowance?

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