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

Some of them are not even Members of the Oireachtas and they are certainly not members of the Government. This is not about process; it is fundamental and goes to the heart of democracy and how our system works. The Civil Service should be completely devoid of politics. There is absolutely no way the Fine Gael website had every single item of the national development plan, chapter and verse, before the Cabinet's decision without some involvement of the strategic communications unit. To suggest otherwise defies any logical explanation. I put that to the Taoiseach last week and he has avoided that fundamental question week after week.

It is not the function of Government officials or any taxpayer-funded campaign to advance the electoral fortunes of any political party.

See this speech in context