Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We will have an opportunity to speak on the budget later today. I refer to a serious allegation on the front page of today's edition of The Irish Times. Once again it relates to the primary care centres and, in particular, ministerial involvement in that process. The Tánaiste informed the other House that following investigations he was quite confident there was no ministerial involvement in that process. According to the report in The Irish Times, the constituency office of the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, was in very close contact with him on this issue. The newspaper report raises serious questions. If the front page report is accurate it would seem to suggest that either the Tánaiste lied to the Dáil on this issue or, at best, he was himself misled.