Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

All of us in the House are elected and we are all public representatives. We are all peers in the House. None of us has the right to information ahead of anybody else.

I will write today to the Secretaries General of every Department to ask them to take on their responsibility as the administrative heads of their Departments to ensure all Members of this House and the Dáil are treated equally. I understand the cut and thrust of politics and that we all try to make names for ourselves. Every now and then we take on a bit of showmanship. It is the nature of the game we are in. Ultimately, the people we represent in this House and those of us elected through the local authority system are entitled to feel they are getting equal representation across all parties and none. It is sharp practice when we start to see this. I have never seen it before.

Senator Buttimer indicated I send stuff, and I do, but I have never been privy to something before it is published. It is wrong and it debases every single one of us when we see that happen. Ultimately, we have a responsibility not just to those who elect us but to the national interest we are here to represent. We are Members of Seanad Éireann; we are not county councillors or Deputies. We are national politicians with a national focus on what we do. We are here to scrutinise Government legislation, not to try to capitalise on the inside track. That is part of what debases politics in this country.

There are some very sound people in this room. Some people I have great respect for and some people respect me while others do not. Some are friends and some are not friends. Ultimately, I recognise the right of everybody here to be treated equally and I ask for nothing more or nothing less.