David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister says she is not gagging the CEO, but she obviously is if she is preventing him or her from speaking. That is a gag. The Minister is wrong; the CEO is being gagged. I also think, more importantly, that the Committee of Public Accounts is being gagged. The Minister says the CEO can say whatever he or she likes to any other committee or to the media. What is then so special about the Committee of Public Accounts? I know it deals with money but this is taxpayers' money and the taxpayers are surely entitled to an understanding of the manner in which their money is spent or misspent. Given that every other committee can hear the wisdom of the CEO, I do not see any reason at all why he or she should be gagged in financial matters.

I would like to ask the Minister what is so special about the Committee of Public Accounts that it alone of all committees should be thus gagged. The Minister and Senator Coghlan have recited various other committees and so on where something similar happens. The fact that a provision is bad in one, two or three Bills does not make an argument for it being introduced in every case. These clauses have been challenged over many years. I challenged them, as did the former Senator, Joe O'Toole, when they were first introduced and we never received an appropriate answer. It was just the strength of Government numbers, not the strength of Government argument that got it through the Houses of the Oireachtas. I hope I will get an answer to the questions I have asked.