asked the Taoiseach if he will state in relation to each Minister and Minister of State the Departments or sections for which they have responsibility at present; and the changes it is proposed to make in the allocation of these responsibilities.
Ceisteanna — Questions Oral Answers. - Ministers' Responsibilities.
3.
I would refer the Deputy to my statements in the Dáil on these matters on 30 June and 7 July.
Will the Taoiseach accept that I put down this question because I wish to have all these appointments and allocations of responsibility on the record of the House? When the Taoiseach read them out it was done ex tempore and I want to have the information available in some permanent form. I ask the Taoiseach to accept that I am not quite clear on the responsibilities as allocated and some of the changes he indicated he was going to make in the future in the allocation of these responsibilities.
I am at a loss to know what is being sought. The Official Report of 30 June records precisely what I said and gives all the information. If there is any additional information the Leader of the Opposition requires beyond what was given I will try to help him.
I should like to ask the Taoiseach about the position in regard to the Tánaiste's allocation of responsibilities. Am I right in assuming that Deputy O'Leary, the Tánaiste, will be responsible for Industry and Energy and will not have responsibility for prices? Is that the position?
What I announced was that he would be Minister for Industry and Energy and that Deputy John Kelly will be Minister for Trade and Tourism. The necessary order dealing with that will be laid before the House in due course.
Have we a situation where in pursuance of some sort of backstairs negotiations Deputy O'Leary now has the plum Ministries of Industry and Energy without any of the difficulties associated with the former Department of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, prices and so on, and that the unfortunate, hapless Deputy John Kelly is now saddled——
That is not the way I would describe him.
(Interruptions.)
——with all the baddies while Deputy O'Leary, the Tánaiste, has all the goodies? Furthermore, can we look forward to a constant procession of advising rising prices from Deputy Kelly?
(Interruptions.)
I accept that whoever took responsibility for prices in this Government would be faced with an unpleasant task in announcing the price increases which were held back by Fianna Fáil and whose impact on the cost of living, exclusive of the whole problem of CIE, is 2 per cent. I would point out that during the election campaign the former Taoiseach attempted to put across the idea that the cost of living increase in the report in question was 2½ per cent. He annualised this to 10 per cent. It turned out to be 3.9 per cent. After adding the 2 per cent that was held back for the period in question, it should be a 5.9 per cent increase in one quarter. Multiply that by four and see what has been left behind.
Deputies
Hear, hear.
(Interruptions.)
Would the Taoiseach not accept my basic thesis that as a result of the Coalition deal Deputy Michael O'Leary, the Tánaiste, has been given all that is nice and attractive in regard to these two Ministries while my old friend, Deputy John Kelly, has been left only with the baddies?
(Interruptions.)
All I can say is that I can observe the crocodile tears coursing down the face of the Leader of the Opposition.
Would the Taoiseach give us the reason he felt it appropriate to divide responsibility for Industry from responsibility for Trade? In particular has he taken into account the consequences of having the IDA reporting to one Minister in one Department and CTT reporting to another Minister in another Department?
There are various considerations involved here, as Deputy O'Malley will know from his own tenure of the office in question. The Minister for Trade is, in this country, responsible for foreign trade which involves responsibility for attendance at EEC Councils on trade matters. The Foreign Affairs Council normally, in my experience, has on its agenda trade matters, which is a very heavy burden. The difficulty experienced by a Minister in coping with that area as well as with IDA activities is considerable. But there are a number of considerations involved in this. It seemed that it was the best allocation of responsibilities in an area where there are alternative divisions and Deputy O'Malley is entitled to his view as to another appropriate division. The total body of work involved between the two Ministries is very extensive and it is difficult to get the optimum division.
I am obliged to the Taoiseach for the compliment that he has paid me in saying that it was impossible for one man to do what has been done by me and, of course, many of my predecessors. Would the Taoiseach accept from me, as someone who is familiar with that scene in the recent past, that it is extremely unwise to divide responsibility for industrial policy from responsibility for trade policy? Trade policy covers internal trade as well as external trade and we will almost inevitably have a situation where there will be tensions between two of our most important economic agencies, the IDA and CTT, where no such tensions existed in the past and where there was very considerable co-operation.
I do not accept the Deputy's conclusions in that regard.
I am afraid I will be proved right.