Shane Ross (Independent)

It would be far better if we knew openly where Cabinet Ministers stood on every issue. They have nothing of which to be ashamed. No realistic citizen expects that 15 people will agree on something and come up with a unanimous verdict. Every intelligent person would understand if they saw a Cabinet openly disagree – as it does on every issue – and then come together, put through a measure and support it. That is the basis of Cabinet solidarity and it is the nature of Government.

There is a charade at present that the Cabinet agrees something with nobody else knowing what has happened, but it all appears in the newspapers the next day in any event. Under the Freedom of Information Act, one is not allowed to obtain information on the measures going through. To do so, it is necessary to get someone to leak the information from his or her point of view, which provides a distorted view of the matter. That is unsatisfactory and I cannot understand why all information on controversial public issues should not be in the public domain. I suppose we should exclude war, security, violence, pornography—