John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

Huge amounts of money have been invested in a scheme that has completely fallen by the wayside. It was tremendously politically embarrassing to the Government. This legislation is an attempt to avoid further embarrassment. A previous speaker referred to Deputy O'Donnell's statement in 1997 that Governments would not disclose information which would be embarrassing. Perhaps she was correct and that is the reason she is supporting the legislation as I presume she is. I look forward to her not supporting it because if she is to stick to what she said, she should not be supportive of it.

The Progressive Democrats call their party a liberal one. They are aligned to the Liberal group in the European Parliament. What would the other Liberal parties in Europe think of this legislation?