Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

Commitments, whether written or oral, will not be honoured by the Government. We had such commitments from a number of sources. For example, such a commitment was given in a letter from the former Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, while the current Minister, Deputy Gormley, and the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, gave similar commitments. His letter of 9 January stated he was very pleased that the exemption sought to the regulations would be granted. These are not commitments; they are lies, or untruths, if the word "lies" is deemed to be unparliamentary.