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

It does need a wide review, not just of this specific issue, which needs to be dealt with, but also of the influence of foreign money on Irish politics. That is something that needs more rigorous inquiry in this country than has been the case to date. I have been through a number of referendums. That has been a concern for me and it continues to be a concern.

It is also a concern that projects, organised by political parties but separate from them, seem to be funded by American money, with a political agenda but, on the face of it, circumventing SIPO guidelines. That is something the Deputy needs to address. She might correct me if I am wrong but that seems to have been the case for the alternative commemoration to the national commemoration of 1916, and the agenda that Sinn Féin represents of the continuing link from 1916 to the war in the North, the conflict and the murder and mayhem that ensued and that the party continues to endorse.

These are very serious political issues, and while the Deputy may not think so, I do. It is not one rule for one group of politicians and a separate rule for others. I accept there has to be a cooling-off period. I do not approve of a former Minister of State going into a post that he had responsibility for as an officeholder. Nevertheless, the other issues I referred to also need to be faced up to once and for all and not fudged continually.

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