Proposal to publish expenses monthly

SEANAD REPORT:THE MINISTER for Finance was proposing that ministerial expenses be published on a monthly basis, Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs Peter Power told the House. The hoarding of information over a period of time and the perception it had to be dragged out of Government served nobody's interest.

The Minister was responding to a call by Liam Twomey (FG) for greater transparency in this area.

Mr Power was speaking in the debate on the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill, under which €360 million is to be provided for the running of the Houses of the Oireachtas over the next three years. While it was less than the €393 million provided over the last three years, it had to be seen in the context of the current budgetary situation.

Negotiations were continuing on achieving significant cost savings in public services. “I understand the Government and the Minister for Finance would expect that any savings to the commission resulting from the outcome of these discussions will be reflected in reduced drawdown against the amount provided in the Bill.”

Dan Boyle (GP), deputy Seanad leader, urged that the commission should meet in public as much as possible to let the public see how its business was done.

Joe O’Toole (Ind) said there should be a provision for protecting whistleblowers. “I cannot think of any sub-State body which requires more protection than a member of staff in these Houses who wanted to draw attention to something in a way that would not reverberate on themselves.”

Alex White (Lab) said he was not sure if the €16,000 payment for commission members would be sufficient if they were going to have to be available for public scrutiny in relation to their activities.

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It was time the Government listened to its backbenchers, rather than to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, who had no mandate to dictate what should be in the budget next week, Shane Ross (Ind) said. The Government had appeared to “bottle it” in the face of what might have been an empty threat by the unions.

Larry Butler (FF) said he believed the unions had been totally irresponsible in calling a public service strike recently.

Eoghan Harris (Ind) said the Government’s position on the public sector was very like that of the people who flocked to Knock and who gazed into the sun expecting to see things happen . . . it had been blinded and hypnotised by that sector.