Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Attorney General provides all of the legal advice to the Government and is leading the defence of the specific cases raised by the Deputy. The Government is defending the particular cases so that matter will evolve in the courts.

As I said yesterday, we can consider a number of other jurisdictions, such as Finland, where there are 19 Ministries, with a minister or secretary of state underpinning each, or New Zealand, where there are 20 ministers and ministers of state. Many jurisdictions of similar size and similar population to Ireland have a similar number of Ministers of State. This is to reflect three specific roles and responsibilities that are being prioritised. There is a Minister of State for the marine. We heard from Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher about the importance of that specific role in fishing communities. It was welcomed by Sinn Féin's spokesperson on finance. Deputy Farrell has not identified what role she would remove in order to introduce that Minister of State. Perhaps she can enlighten the House about what Minister of State she would drop to allow for a Minister of State for the marine, which she has welcomed.

See this speech in context