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

It is blindingly obvious that the bilateral meetings that took place in Zagreb, outside of the venue for the meeting of Fine Gael's European political party were brief, formal and a cover for those, such as the Taoiseach, who used official transport to claim that it was official business. Croatia, however, is a partner and ally of Ireland's in the European Union, and the fact that the Taoiseach met its President and Prime Minister formally is reasonable.

The more important question is what official resources the Taoiseach used at the meeting of his political party in Zagreb and whether he always fully respected the non-political nature of public servants by not involving them in meetings held at his party political conference. Will the Taoiseach assure us that all costs relating to those parts of the trip that involved being at the party conference, including personal transport, were paid for by Fine Gael? Equally, will he assure us that no public servants were brought to the party conference?

In a related matter, it was for this party that the former Deputy, Dara Murphy, was given leave to work for by the Taoiseach, because of which he was absent from his Dáil work. Perhaps Dara Murphy's good fortune was that, unlike Deputy Bailey, no opinion poll was done showing him to be a liability to Fine Gael. Will the Taoiseach tell us whether he has asked Fine Gael how much money it received to support Dara Murphy in his Dáil work? Every party gets political funding related to the number of Deputies it has. Does he think he will ask the party to return the money? This would be for the period that the former Deputy was working in Europe.

The Taoiseach's attempt to defend himself by going on a personal attack on others impresses nobody. These are legitimate questions that deserve legitimate answers.

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