Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Since last week when the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Heather Humphreys, was in the House to deal with the debacle relating to the appointment of Mr. McNulty to the board of IMMA so that he could become a Seanad by election candidate, the situation has gotten worse. The Taoiseach said on Thursday last that he did not direct anyone, yet on Friday he said "I wouldn't say it was my finest hour and I take responsibility for this having evolved to what people might imagine it is".
I am sure the Leader will agree that no one has had to use his or her imagination in trying to figure out what has gone on here. People might have had to stretch the bounds of credibility in terms of the actions of the leader of the State but no one has had to use one bit of imagination to figure out just what was going on.
Yesterday we heard the Taoiseach say that he did not apply "normal Fine Gael standards" and he blamed officials in the Fine Gael party headquarters. He actually tried to differentiate between his role as Taoiseach and as leader of Fine Gael. Unfortunately this does not wash because the Taoiseach must also have forgotten his appointment of his neighbour, Darragh Loftus, to the board of SOLAS, as reported in today's Daily Mail. Obviously the same standards applied to that particular appointment. Again, not much imagination is required to figure that out.
The Taoiseach, as far as I am concerned, has still not spelled out his role in this affair. He has tried to exonerate his own office and officials in his Department, blame people in Fine Gael headquarters and shaft the poor innocent party in Donegal who was set to be a Senator but will not now be a Member of this House. We had the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht in the House last week who gave an excellent display in ignoring questions. A litany of questions were put to her by Senators from all sides of the House and she answered none of them. She just blindly read from a script and kept repeating elements of it. Many of the questions posed remain unanswered. Indeed, her half-hearted statement yesterday raises other questions.

The half-hearted statement that she made yesterday raises other questions. When did she receive the request from Fine Gael officials that Mr. McNulty wished to be appointed to the board under her remit? Why did she act with such haste in doing a banking inquiry by extending the number of board members to facilitate party cronies? Who suggested the other appointee, who is from Limerick? Was it party headquarters again or were there other reasons? The Taoiseach is blaming Fine Gael headquarters but I want to know what role his own advisers or officials played in requesting that Mr. McNulty be appointed to the IMMA board. This entire situation is incredible, bizarre and completely unacceptable. It is an affront to the entire arts community, to anybody who ever served in this House and to the Irish people who voted, against the Taoiseach's will, to retain this House. The Taoiseach simply gave it the Harvey Smith by doing what he wanted and using it as a mere tool to facilitate political advancement for some of his own flock.

Rather than answer questions to the media on one hand, or the Dáil on the other, we feel that the most appropriate forum in which the Taoiseach should answer questions is in this House. For that reason, I am proposing an amendment to the Order of Business that the Taoiseach will come to the House today to answer questions on this issue. He has a responsibility to this House, as a democratic institution of the State, and we are entitled to answers.