Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I put it to the Minister that I would make it easy for him and I asked him how many times he, as a Minister, amended legislation in the Seanad last year. A long pause followed. Then the presenter put it to the Minister that he did not know. To me, that speaks volume for the arrogance of anyone such as the Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, a Minister or Minister of State or anyone representing the Government to advocate the abolition of the Seanad without bloody well briefing themselves on what they did in the Seanad in the previous 12 months.

Anyway, we know about the set piece. The Minister meets the officials in the anteroom and the script is handed to him. He reads it out. When a Bill is on Committee Stage he is given the answer to the amendment and then we are back to the set piece. What is the set piece? What is the real true axis of collusion, to use a phrase popular in recent weeks?

The axis of collusion is between senior civil servants to senior Ministers to the Chief Whip.