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

There are many commitments in the programme for Government in respect of political reform. One of the disappointments has been the lack of progress for many Opposition Bills going through the House and the abuse of the money message. At the beginning of the lifetime of this Dáil, Members were told that a reasonable approach would be taken in using the money message with regard to certain Bills. I am of the view that there has been an abuse of the money message by the Government. This needs to change. I refer to three examples of Bills that could go through, namely, the Mortgage Arrears Resolution (Family Home) Bill 2017, the Parole Bill 2016 and the Mental Health (Amendment) Bill.

On page 150 of the programme for Government, there is a commitment to "examine the balance of power and responsibility between the Government and the Civil Service." Will the Taoiseach confirm whether this review took place and if not why not? In light of the current debate on the strategic communications unit, would the Taoiseach agree that it is a very opportune moment to conduct such a review? In this context and going back over the freedom of information material, the Grangegorman campus of Dublin Institute of Technology, DIT, was part of the budget campaign promoted by the strategic communications unit. The campus was part of the national development plan campaign, as were the projects relating to the national children's hospital, the National Maternity Hospital and the Central Mental Hospital. All of these projects have been on the go for eight or nine years. The Grangegorman campus was conceived by Bertie Ahern and a lot of work was done in decanting the health services there.

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