Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

I wish to refer briefly to the issue of expenses which has been raised by many Senators. The Ceann Comhairle has resigned because of an inappropriate level of expenditure at taxpayers' expense. I do not wish to go over that ground but in his defence, particularly regarding his ministerial portfolio, he stated in a press release that the provision of the services he enjoyed were arranged in accordance with standard procedures, that the relevant Departments reviewed all of this expenditure, that the accounts of the Departments were audited and that all of the costs incurred were in compliance with Department of Finance guidelines.

We have established that the level of expenditure is inappropriate. Otherwise, presumably, the gentleman in question would not have resigned. I believe those standards and auditing procedures are inappropriate. What is the Minister for Finance doing about that? Are other Ministers incurring inappropriate levels of expenditure in accordance with the same procedure and guidelines? I ask that the Minister for Finance come into this House and explain the current procedures that apply in terms of ministerial expenses and if there has been any change from the time the Ceann Comhairle, Deputy John O'Donoghue, was Minister and incurred those expenses.