Alan Shatter
Question:1 Mr. Shatter asked the Taoiseach if he will outline the specific functions of the Government Press Secretary and the Assistant Government Press Secretary.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Government Press Officials.
The Government Press Secretary is required under his contract of employment to perform the duties appropriate to his position.
As has been the case with his predecessors in the post, his work in practice consists principally of ensuring that the media are kept informed of Government decisions and policies and of securing from Ministers and Departments information sought by the media in respect of the activities of these Ministers and Departments.
The Assistant Government Press Secretary is required under his contract of employment to perform any duties assigned to him from time to time as appropriate to his position. In practice, his work is similar to that of the Government Press Secretary.
Could the Taoiseach confirm that the Government Press Secretary is a civil servant under his terms of contract?
Yes, but his term of office normally finishes contemporaneously with that of the Taoiseach.
If the Government press officer is a civil servant what business has an internal Fianna Fáil Party committee investigating the conduct of a civil servant employed by the Government, a civil servant whose wages are paid by the taxpayer? Could the Taoiseach advise the House whether the report of this committee will be made available to the House?
The Deputy is injecting new matter into the question.
There is not any committee. Our party for their own good reasons decided to carry out an inquiry. It has nothing to do with Government or with the Civil Service. It is a party matter.
Could the Taoiseach explain how it is simply a party matter for an investigation to be conducted into an allegation that the Government Press Secretary has been directly responsible for spreading misinformation about a former Minister for Finance? Would the Taoiseach not agree that if there are allegations about the conduct of the press secretary that is a matter that should be properly investigated by this House rather than by an internal caucus of his own party?
I do not agree. The Government Press Secretary traditionally is a very special position. The Deputy may or may not recall that the predecessor of the Government Press Secretary was a very high profile political person.
I am calling Deputy John Bruton.
Perhaps you would allow me one more question?
Sorry, Deputy John Bruton offered and I am calling him.
Are the Government Press Secretary and the Government Assistant Press Secretary required to abstain from party political acitivity as civil servants?
The position of the Government Press Secretary is traditionally in a very in-between area. It would be ridiculous to think of him as a civil servant in the normal terms of a civil servant, or as being bound by the normal procedures which apply to civil servants generally. Traditionally, the Government Press Secretary is very much a political person. He comes and goes with his political masters and it is quite absurd to suggest that he is totally divorced from the political realities of his position.
We shall have to have finality on this question. There are many other questions to be disposed of. I will call Deputy Bruton again, then Deputy Rabbitte and then we will have a final question from Deputy Shatter. After that we shall proceed to other questions.
Is the interpretation which the Taoiseach has just given, the legal position governing the terms of employment of the Government Press Secretary? If the Government Press Secretary and the Government Assistant Press Secretary are political appointees, or if they have a political role of a party kind, would the Taoiseach not indicate that therefore the Civil Service should supply similar facilities to other parties?
That is patently absurd.
Will the Taoiseach answer the first part of the question relating to the legal position? Is the Government Press Secretary entitled to engage in party political activity?
Of course he is, at any time. That is inherent in the job.
That is not true.
(Interruptions.)
The Government Press Secretary of the Government of which Deputy Bruton was a member was one of the most highly political people in this country during his term of office.
A Deputy
He never attended an internal party meeting.
Grow up.
(Interruptions.)
Order. Deputy Rabbitte.
As it is the purpose of the Government Press Secretary to keep the media informed about affairs of Government, would the Taoiseach say whether or not he thinks it is an abuse of the current occupant's talents that he should be used as some kind of personal streetwise Jeeves to the Taoiseach and that it is an abuse for him to be used to spread disinformation about Members of this House in the manner that has happened over recent weeks?
We are having repetition.
Of course we are. I would repeat that the Government Press Secretary occupies a very special position.
In your heart.
Traditionally, his job not just in respect of this Government but in respect of all Governments, is to defend the Government, Government policies and members of the Government against the sort of calumny and detraction to which members of this Government have been subjected over the last number of weeks.
(Interruptions.)
Defend the Taoiseach — forget about the Government.
Would the Taoiseach agree that it is not appropriate to the position of Government Press Secretary to spread disinformation or false information about other members of the Government? Would the Taoiseach not agree that the Government Press Secretary is in practice the Taoiseach's personal information tool and can the Taoiseach advise the House as to precisely what the Government Press Secretary was instructed to tell the media last week about the former Minister for Finance?
These are gratuitous insults to the Government Press Secretary which I propose to treat with the contempt they deserve.
Deputies
Hear, hear.
Answer the question.
Question No. 2, please.
The Taoiseach is avoiding the question. His failure to answer the question confirms that what was said last week about the former Minister was at the behest of the Taoiseach.