Frank Feighan (Fine Gael)

I will get back to that. I play my politics by giving credit where it is due. Unfortunately, not one telephone call was made to the Minister and the jobs were created in an office in Sligo town which has no car parking facilities and which costs the Exchequer three times more than it would in Boyle. I had to use the Freedom of Information Act to access the information I sought which made me see how this Government was squandering money. Jobs were not being created and I used the Act to highlight the manner in which my constituency had been undermined and left out.

The legislation was originally proposed in the Fianna Fáil and Labour Party programme for Government in 1992 and the rainbow coalition of 1995 to 1997, led by Fianna Gael, brought it to fruition. The Fianna Fáil Opposition did not dispute its introduction, but took the view that the legislation was fair. I reviewed the debates on the original legislation and I would like to cite Deputy McDaid, if I may name names.