asked the Minister for the Environment if he will make a statement concerning the public availability of the Local Government (Financial Provisions) Bill, 1977, including the memorandum to the Government, and the explanatory memorandum, prior to the formal publication of the Bill.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Availability of Local Government Bill.
7.
At the Government's instruction, I have had the matter referred to the Garda Commissioner for investigation. In these circumstances, I do not think it would be appropriate for me to comment further.
In the knowledge the Minister now has since this question was initially tabled to the Taoiseach, can he guarantee that this is the first leak from his Department since he came into office?
As I said in my reply, I am not prepared to comment pending the outcome of the investigation.
The Minister is not willing to give that guarantee?
No.
Could I ask the Minister if any action it is proposed to take against some hapless civil servant, who might be sought out as a scapegoat for the breach of confidence involved here, will apply also to the political boss of that civil servant—that is, the Minister—and, if the civil servant is forced to resign or is dismissed, will the same standard apply to the Minister's good self?
I am not prepared to make any further comment pending the outcome of the investigation.
Surely it is reasonable to assume that at the end of the day the Minister will have made some progress and, in that event, will the same standards apply to the political master of the person or persons involved?
I am not going to anticipate the result of the investigation.
In other words, the Minister is not going to carry the can?
I am not going to anticipate the outcome of the investigation or anticipate where it happened pending completion of the investigation.
When will we have a resolution of this matter?
That I could not tell the Deputy at this stage.
Surely there can be only two outcomes—someone is responsible or someone is not responsible —and all I am querying is the likely course of events in the circumstance. The Minister will come up with either a name or names and automatically there will be a likely course of events.
I am not prepared to comment any further.
Could the Minister tell the House what precautions he has taken to ensure this will not happen again?
He will draft no more Bills.
My Department may not be the only one involved.
Oh, now the cat is out of the bag.
This is the first time we got that bit of information.
At which Department or colleague is the Minister pointing his finger?
Obviously this is the tip of the iceberg.