Brendan Ryan (Labour)

We are almost at the stage where we do not notice the broken promises. A solemn promise to the United Nations was broken last week and a promise made in the Dáil on decentralisation was broken this week. The credibility of the Department of Finance is now at issue because we were assured that decentralisation would be self-financing, which it will be in 25 years time. According to the body investigating the matter, it will pay for itself by 2026. Did the Department, with all its skills and expertise, fail to make the calculation that Phil Flynn and his committee was able to make in six months or was it as we all suspect, no more than a con job?

I am sure it is no more than a coincidence that the Laoighis-Offaly constituency, served by the Minister and Minister of State, survived all of the ups and downs.