Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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1. To ask the Taoiseach if he will publish on the record of Dáil Éireann the full detail of all agreements made between the Government and all Independent Teachtaí Dála, political groupings and political parties, as he has previously stated he would. [16880/16]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The programme for a partnership Government is the agreement between members of the new minority Government setting out the specific commitments which will be delivered by the Government over its lifetime. This programme, which was published on 11 May, was the outcome of many hours of discussion which took place between my party and Independent Deputies and groupings. During these discussions agreement was reached with the now Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, to undertake an independent clinical review of services at University Hospital Waterford. This agreement was set out in the programme for a partnership Government and a letter on the matter from the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, to the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, was published on the merrionstreet.iewebsite.

Central to the approach for delivering on this ambitious programme is the concept of good faith and no surprises. The programme for Government sets out a new and collaborative approach in doing business, not only in including the partners of Government but in being inclusive of the Oireachtas and wider society.

Implementation of the programme for a partnership Government will require a new relationship between the Government and the Oireachtas. This is reflected in significant Dáil reforms that have been agreed and are being implemented in the House and will provide a significantly greater role for Members of the Dáil. These arrangements will require greater collaboration and sharing of information by the Government with the Oireachtas, and a new process to support this is being put in place and will be co-ordinated by my Department. It will pose a challenge to all Members of the Oireachtas to ensure this new relationship works effectively in the long-term interest of the people we represent.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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I thank the Taoiseach for his short reply. Two months ago on 6 May as the Government was being announced, I asked the Taoiseach to put on record, as he stated on numerous occasions inside and outside this House he would do, all the deals done with political parties, political groupings and each Independent Deputy. I presume the Taoiseach remembers that.

It would appear from the Taoiseach's reply today that the only deal made with any Independent, individual or grouping is the deal with the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan on University Hospital Waterford in the south east. I am trying to ensure we do not end up in a situation in the future of my having to accuse the Taoiseach of having misled the Dáil. There is much talk about new politics. Ironically, the Taoiseach's adviser was appointed without public analysis to a €275,000 per annum job.

I want the Taoiseach to guarantee to this House that neither I nor any other Member of this House will come into the possession of any documentation referring to other deals, understandings or agreements, despite that certain Members of this House are stating publicly that agreements or understandings have been reached. Will the Taoiseach guarantee this House that outside of what he has just read into the record, there are no agreements between any political entity, individual or otherwise and the Government, which is led by the Taoiseach? Should I or anyone in this House subsequently come into the possession of documentation that refers to such deals, obviously we will have to come into this House and ask the Taoiseach some serious questions.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I am not sure what the Deputy is getting at. Is he speaking of agreements with people who are Members of the House, of different parties or who are Independents?

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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Members of the Government. Members supporting the Government.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The programme published on 11 May, which contains in excess of 600 commitments, was drawn up between the Fine Gael Party and members of the Rural Alliance, the Independent Alliance and other Independents. It is available for everybody to see. I have no knowledge of understandings, written agreements or commitments other than those published. No Minister or Minister of State in government has indicated to me that he or she has an agreement with any Member or Members of the House.

As I said, the programme for Government has been published and was debated here for many hours. In that regard a specific issue arose in respect of Waterford hospital. The Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, wrote a letter about that, which was published on the merrionstreet.iewebsite. As Deputy Kelly is well aware from his experience in government, regardless of how much one tries to put into a programme for Government, other issues arise day to day or over time that are never contemplated by a programme for Government. As happened during the years in office of the previous Government, of which Deputy Kelly, former Tánaiste, Deputy Joan Burton, and Deputy Howlin were members, there were many issues that were never referred to in the programme for Government that had to be dealt with.

In so far as the Deputy's question is concerned, the programme has been published; that is it. There was one other the letter in respect of Waterford hospital and the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan. As new challenges and problems arise, the Government will have to make decisions about them. In so far as written documentation on understandings are concerned, I do not know of any.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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I thank the Taoiseach. I am well aware of the programme for Government and what is in it. Members of this House who support the Government are referring to understandings or deals they have done with the Taoiseach, the Government or individual Ministers. I have read the programme for Government and other documentation in this regard on which I could lay my hands and saw no reference in it to any such deals with the Taoiseach or the Government. There appears to be at play here some form of political manoeuvring in that certain Deputies are implying they have done deals with the Government or have agreements with Ministers, individually or collectively, on certain issues pertaining to their constituencies, be that in regard to hospitals, schools, roads, railway lines and so on. Given that the Taoiseach stated on the record of the House that he would publish everything, what are we to believe when we hear these Deputies refer to such deals? I take it from the Taoiseach's response today that all utterances from such Deputies are untrue. They are not included in the programme for Government or in any published documents and have not been in any way objectively assessed to be appropriate in the context of Government spending.

Am I to take it from what the Taoiseach said today, despite his get-out-jail clause to the effect that other issues arise and things change - they cannot have changed in the past two months - that no such deals exist in writing, that as such there is no such documentation and that what is being stated in the public domain is untrue? If that is the case, if I or any Member of this House were to come into the possession of documentation that would demonstrate that any of said deals do exist, which some Ministers or Ministers of State are confirming, what am I to do and how will the Taoiseach respond? In such a scenario, unfortunately, I or another Member would have to come into this House and say that the Taoiseach had misled the House. We do not want to end up in that scenario.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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To be specific, Deputy Michael Lowry gives the indication in an article on page 4 in the Tipperary Starof 30 June that a deal has been done - without reference to the word "deal" - on a pilot scheme in South Tipperary General Hospital. It is a half page article. Obviously, somebody is on some inside track. Deputy Lowry states in that article that he is the only Deputy in the county in a position to work on this because he is supporting the Government. He also refers to his having cited health as an election issue and in that regard that he has had extensive meetings with HSE officials and senior management and the Minister on how best to progress the case of South Tipperary General Hospital. Not only is this pilot scheme of a modular unit of 40 beds en suite going to happen but Deputy Lowry has persuaded the Minister to revisit the capital plan. It seems that in one fell swoop the other four Deputies representing Tipperary would as a result of this deal appear to be redundant. That said, this could have been something in the offing already and perhaps Deputy Lowry is claiming credit for it. I do not know.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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Maybe it is not true.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I do not know. I am pointing out to the Taoiseach that Deputy Lowry, in terms of how that article is couched and articulated, is saying he has access to the Minister because he is supporting the Government, that he is on the inside track while other Deputies are not.

In the context of the question tabled by Deputy Kelly, could the Taoiseach tell us whether he has done a deal with Deputy Lowry in return for his support for the Government and are the Ministers under some inside track? There are all sorts of rumours that a Lowry will be the next Fine Gael Deputy in Tipperary. It might not be the current Deputy. It is very interesting reading in terms of the language, content and the clear indication emanating from the entire article and the treatment of the story.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I want to bring in the other Deputies if I can.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I thank Deputy Kelly for putting this question down. I was not sure whether to ask Deputy Micheál Martin or the Taoiseach given that there are two of them in it. We have seen the Joe O'Toole controversy bringing secret deals in sharp focus. Joe O'Toole was appointed chairperson of the expert commission on water and I am reliably informed that Fianna Fáil agreed to this appointment.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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On a point of order. Deputy Adams cannot utter untruths like that. It is absolutely untrue.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I am reliably informed that Fianna Fáil agreed to this appointment. Is this the case? Did the Taoiseach inform Fianna Fáil about this appointment or in any way give it notice of the appointment of the committee? The Taoiseach alluded to the lengthy negotiations that took place before the Government reconvened as a minority Government. I recall the remarks of the leader of Fianna Fáil at that time. He said "the election represented an overwhelming rejection of the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government, its policies and its hyper-political behaviour." He was then moved to put Fine Gael back into Government. The appointment of the Seanad is another issue. Clearly, some deal was done between the Taoiseach and Deputy Micheál Martin. It would be in the interests of everyone if there was transparency about what was going on. We saw it with the Government decision to repeal the High Court judgment on the national monument at the iconic 1916 site. Was Fianna Fáil consulted about that? We see Fianna Fáil correctly describing the Government's-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy Adams is straying beyond the terms of the question and we are running out of time. If we run out of time, we can ask questions but we will not get an answer.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I will rest at this. Deputy Micheál Martin correctly described the Government's position on refusing to have a commission of investigation into the sale of NAMA's loan book yet he failed to act or support the establishment of such a commission. Did the Taoiseach consult with the Deputy on that issue?

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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If Deputy Burton asks a question, there will not be a chance for an answer.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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During the last general election, the Taoiseach assured me on a number of occasions that Deputy Lowry would not be part of any support for a Government that he would form with the Labour Party. Obviously, he did not form a Government with the Labour Party so was another deal done with Deputy Lowry in the context of the current Government of the new politics? Has Deputy Lowry privileged access to the Taoiseach, as the Tipperary Star story would appear to indicate, or to people who command the Taoiseach's attention and decisions from the Taoiseach?

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I do not think the Taoiseach will be able to answer the questions because the time has elapsed and we need to move on to Question No. 2. He might wish to correspond with the Deputies.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I will but it is the first time I have heard Deputy Kelly not being clear. He has full privilege in here. I do not know what he is talking about. He should say what is on his mind.

In response to Deputy Micheál Martin, every Deputy has access to Ministers. There is no deal, written or otherwise, with Deputy Lowry. In any event, the people of Tipperary will elect whoever they want at the next election.

In response to Deputy Adams, I did discuss the Seanad position with Deputy Micheál Martin. While constitutionally it is up to the Taoiseach of the day to make 11 nominations, I was happy to say to Deputy Micheál Martin, who is supporting a partnership Government in a minority position, that he could nominate three sectoral positions and that I would appoint them. Could anybody object to those? They are good people who will contribute to the political life of the country.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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We need to move on to Question No. 2.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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In response to Deputy Burton's question, I have already made it perfectly clear that I have no arrangement with Deputy Lowry. He was elected by the people of Tipperary and is quite entitled to contact and make representations to any Minister.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Is the Taoiseach denying the Tipperary Starstory?

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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This is not a question about the Tipperary Star.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I do not know anything about the Tipperary Starstory.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I ask Deputy Burton to resume her seat. We need to move on. We do not ask questions about newspapers in here.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Lowry is getting good publicity here. He will be pleased with the publicity he gets here today.