David Norris (Independent)

It was not a different question. The Minister of State might have thought it was a different question, but they said they did not have it.

There is a very good piece about this in The Irish Times today in which the word "corruption" figures prominently in an analysis of the Bill by Fintan O'Toole. It states, "A corrosive public cynicism is eating away at the bonds between State and citizen." Is that not a form of corruption? I am not talking about financial corruption; I am talking about corruption of the body politic by the inappropriate use of muscle by this Government. It further states:

The response of the Government? Go into hiding. Neuter the Freedom of Information Act. Batten down the hatches. It is a perfectly rational strategy. Halfway through a 10-year stretch in power, the Government has no ambition beyond survival. It is not interested in engaging with the public. It is interested in hanging on until those who voted for Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats last May will have forgotten their sense of betrayal and those who didn't will have sunk into weary apathy.

He goes on to talk about the confidence that they can get away with it. I will not put the whole article on the record because that would be rather tedious, although I might return to it in the later hours of the evening when I imagine we will still be here. A distinguished journalist like Mr. O'Toole—