Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

People are choosing to interpret the reluctance of a Minister to break an absolute constitutional obligation not to pre-empt the collective decisions of his Cabinet colleagues in such a way that they are saying it indicates something that it does not indicate. I regret that the matter is being spun in that way. Anybody who has ever asked me a question about matters that have not yet been decided by the Cabinet has received the same answer, namely, that I will not comment on them. Every member of every Government since the foundation of the State has adhered to the practice of not pre-empting Cabinet decisions. One cannot comment on issues because in addressing them it leads to conclusions on the part of others. That is not how matters work.