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

I have answered the questions.

To respond to Deputy Kelly, the concept of special advisers is not new. We have three parties, and an office has been established for the leader of each party within that to ensure that the Government can get the programme for Government implemented. That is the origin of special advisers, which the Labour Party, to its credit, brought in when Dick Spring became Tánaiste after the 1992 general election.

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