Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to address the House on this serious issue. Like other Members of this House, I first became aware of these revelations when the details were reported in Village magazine.I heard from the Tánaiste at the same time as the Taoiseach did, and nothing I have heard subsequently has changed what the Tánaiste said to me, in the first instance, in his response. The Green Party stated that it was important that these issues were addressed in the House, as they were in detail last week. We welcome the opportunity for that to occur again today. We stand for parliamentary accountability in our democracy.

We also welcomed, having listened to the Tánaiste set out his version of events, his admission that what had happened was not right and his apology for such an error of judgment. We accepted that apology. The disclosure of information in this case was not right and he acknowledged that. There is a reason we have the Cabinet rule book and codes for how we must do everything through official channels to protect the public interest and, in the end, to protect the political system from accusations of partisanship or patronage. It is important that we follow those rules, treat documents with the highest confidence and make that work.

I have confidence that this Government can and will engage in that other method, partnership. We need to work collectively and with every section of society and a variety of interests in order that we deliver the Government's goals of tackling the health and housing crises and preparing this country to face the climate challenge ahead of us. That partnership has to work. We referred to that partnership in our statement last week. It was not silence, as Deputy McDonald stated. It was us listening and trying to give our assessment in our response, which we did, that we need to learn lessons from such occasions, as the Tánaiste acknowledged. He wished, as he said, he had done it differently at that time. We in Government commit to doing things differently and in partnership with the people of this country, the various institutions and vested interests, not just for their vested interests but for the public interest. We do that by being open in how we share data but also by making sure we treat data in confidence and with competence and that those we work with do the same in every section of society. That is our responsibility. We are in a coalition; it is not a club.

Confidence in the Government and the Tánaiste extends to the confidence and ability to ask questions and say, as we have said, "That is not right". However, that does not mean we should step aside from the bigger goal of this coalition and any coalition Government of serving the Irish people by changing the health and housing systems and preparing us for the climate future as best we can.

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