Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá sé sin ceart go leor, a Cheann Comhairle, agus gabhaim buíochas leis. Since this Government began its life, we have seen the complete erosion of public confidence in political life. It is undeniable at this point that we have a crisis in how this Government does business. Public standards and ethics are on the floor. We previously had a clear attempt to breach the lobbying Act, which tries to close the revolving door between government and vested interests. The events of today have been dictated by Zapponegate, another occasion when public standards and ethics were thrown into the bin. We then had the Minister, Deputy Coveney, appear before a committee where he provided an account that contained serious inconsistencies and excuses designed to try to explain away the problem. We also heard the Minister stating, by his own admission, that he had deleted official correspondence related to this matter.

I am no legal expert, but section 52 of the Freedom of Information Act is written with the kind of admirable clarity that does not require a legal background to understand. It states that "a person ... without lawful excuse and with intention to deceive destroys or materially alters a record shall be guilty of an offence and be liable on summary conviction to a class B fine". I guess we will just have to let the public decide for themselves because the Government's vote of confidence would seem to suggest it does not believe there is any issue.

We then heard that this Government does not even seem to believe that Katherine Zappone's actions constitute lobbying at all. To hear Ministers say they are not being lobbied when they receive numerous texts and communications from a former Cabinet colleague about a role that was created for her, the mind absolutely boggles. It would appear that some Ministers simply believe they are doubling as HR specialists in their spare time. I heard one Fine Gael Minister play the definitional game by trying to define the problem away, and that is the height of cynicism. Yes, we could restrict the definition of lobbying to someone who conducts their canvassing activities in a hotel lobby, but where would that get us? Call me old-fashioned, but I have always subscribed to the belief that if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it is a duck. The same goes for lobbying.

I have heard some people tonight say that members of the Opposition are just standing on the sidelines, but we are being extremely constructive and the lobbying Act clearly needs to be strengthened. I have a Bill to do that and what did members of the Government do? They kicked the can down the road. The FOI Act clearly needs strengthening, and what have I received just a few moments ago but another delaying tactic - a review. We do not need another review; we need action.

Tá daoine bréan den chineál bhealach is atá ag an Rialtas seo chun a chuid oibre a dhéanamh agus tuigim go maith an fáth a bhfuil siad bréan de. Tá sé dochreidte agus iomlán do-ghlactha agus caithfear stop a chur leis.

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