Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join with others in welcoming our new colleague and wish him every success in his endeavours here in the coming months and years. It is with great dismay that I note the Taoiseach's ongoing contempt for this House continues.

We see the budget in its entirety in the hands of the media - the political correspondents in the print and broadcast media. They have been in a position so far today to give us details of the impact of the budget on every household. This is a recent practice of recent years begun by the previous Government. It is highly disrespectful and shows contempt for the Houses of the Oireachtas. This is consistent for the Taoiseach given that he wanted to abolish this House, and we know about the affairs of recent weeks in terms of the manipulation of the membership of various bodies. It does not augur well when we see this level of disdain for the institutions of the State and ultimately the people whereby, to curry favour with the media, the budget has been systematically leaked by members of Cabinet or perhaps the Taoiseach, so that it is available to all except the people, instead of going through the correct procedure. I thought that such matters were governed by Cabinet confidentiality which in fact is not the prerogative of the Taoiseach or individual Ministers, but the prerogative of the State and its people. The basic approach that should be taken by any Government is to respect that and keep things confidential until such time as they are brought into the public domain through the Houses of the Oireachtas. It should not be through a bidding process in media to ensure good copy to reflect the Government's performance.