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

As for the functioning of government, the previous Government had a range of advisers, press secretaries and other support staff for not only the Fine Gael Party but also the Independent Alliance and other Independents. This is a tripartite Government and I will retain roughly the same number of staff that the previous Taoiseach had, but there will be a Tánaiste's office within the Department of An Taoiseach and the Green Party leader will also have staff. The full complement has not yet been finalised to my knowledge but as soon it has, it will be transparent and published. The idea is that this is a programme of Government and it needs to be delivered.

All three parties have clear priorities within the programme that they are anxious to have delivered. The complement of politically appointed staff under the previous Government was 20.6. There were a number of party and non-party participants. There is precedent for this going back to the early 1990s. Deputy Howlin would have been a member of the Government in 1992 when the Tánaiste's office was established, the idea being - there is an open debate about this - that political input is important in delivering a programme for Government. However, there has to be constructive interaction between the political advisers and the civil servants to ensure that the programme is delivered.

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