Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The Tánaiste said that legitimate questions can be asked; that is all I am trying to achieve. I am not asking him about The Ditchand his opinion on it, his opinion on whether the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, has broken any laws or if he has confidence in the Minister of State. This is about public confidence in our political system, our planning system and our system of local government. That is the critical issue here. Public confidence has already been badly battered by previous controversies. All of us in the House should be doing everything we can to protect and restore that confidence. Ministers of State being facilitated in delivering statements while the Opposition is muzzled in some way does not scream accountability and transparency.

On previous occasions, the Tánaiste's approach has been different. He sacked Deputy Cowen from Cabinet for refusing to make a statement or answer any questions in this House. Other Ministers and Ministers of State, namely, Deputies Calleary, Troy and English, have opted to resign from Government. This suggests that standards of accountability are really high. Now we are told that even responding to questions is too high a bar. This is not about political scalps; it is about political accountability. Why is there one rule for the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, and a different one for everybody else?

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