Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It was despicable. I thank the Leader for his indulgence because this is an important point about the conduct of future campaigns. When one sees the Fine Gael press office issue statements personally attacking Senator Quinn who has done so much over the years and Senator Crown, a new Senator who has brought a new perspective, it is completely uncalled for. If anything, the idea of fewer politicians and saving this and that feeds the race to the bottom in politics. When the Government, its press office and a senior Minister, Deputy Bruton, act in this way, it leads me to question the respect I previously had for certain people.

I thank the Cathaoirleach for his indulgence. When we look at control, those of us advocating a "No" vote are talking about more oversight and ensuring that any Government, not just this one, is held to account in a proper way. We all agree with that. When one looks at the autocratic nature of certain Cabinet Ministers and this Taoiseach, one sees that the Government press office is able to tell RTE that it does not want any pictures of the Taoiseach at the All-Ireland final shown in case he gets an adverse reaction and is booed and he is blurred out of the picture. This is in the context of control. If this is allowed to happen, it is more akin to North Korea than the Republic of Ireland with the total control this Government has.