Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

An error of judgment is not the same as saying that something was wrong, and the Taoiseach's deputy also knows that; he made that point. The Taoiseach is also engaging in this distortion. That agreement was not signed off by the IMO until 16 April and was not published by the Department for another month. The code of conduct applying to a Taoiseach specifies that officeholders should respect confidences entrusted to them in the course of their official duties. Patently it is clear that the Tánaiste, when he was Taoiseach, did not do that. I am asking the Taoiseach to address this problem. It seems that the Tánaiste is of the view that that code is open to personal interpretation, which should not be the case.

The Taoiseach has a responsibility to restore some element of trust in Government negotiations. In the coming months and years, unions, employers and social partners will be asked to engage with the Government in negotiations. Can they trust the Government in those negotiations? It seems that from the actions of the Tánaiste last year they cannot do that because he interprets things to suit himself. The Taoiseach needs to take action now to restore trust. A starting point is to review the code of conduct and also to request the Tánaiste to admit this was wrong.

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