Jim O'Keeffe
Question:2 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Taoiseach the steps, if any, he intends to take to ensure that important announcements of Government policy are made in Dáil Éireann when it is in session.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Government Policy Announcements.
Announcements of Government policy are made by members of the Government on such occasions and at such times as they consider to be most appropriate in the public interest.
All members of the Government are conscious of the desirability of making important policy announcements in the House in the first instance. Deputies will appreciate that it is the duty of Ministers to make such announcements without delay. However, if while the Dáil is sitting no suitable opportunities arise and it is thought that the public interest could suffer by a delay, the Minister concerned must decide on the most appropriate manner in making the announcement.
The House will be aware that there are ample opportunities for Members to raise here the subject matter of any ministerial announcements made outside the House. In line with my commitment to open Government a programme for Dáil reform has been put in place which provides for greater questioning of members of the Government to matters of policy.
Has the Taoiseach decided to avoid holding regular press conferences? Has he decided also to transfer to other Ministers as many Dáil Questions as possible tabled to him?
That is not the case.
We are having an extension of this question. The question relates to where important announcements will be made.
What is the problem, Sir? I have asked a question on that. May I have a reply?
The Deputy appears to be suggesting by his answer that he is not satisfied with the reply and I would like to know if this is the case.
No.
The Deputy is not satisfied. I would refer the Deputy to a similar reply in almost identical words given by a Fine Gael Taoiseach on a previous occasion.
No. I would like the Taoiseach to answer.
Is the Deputy saying he is not satisfied with the reply of a former Fine Gael Taoiseach?
The Taoiseach is here to answer questions.
The Deputy has been caught out.
Let us have an orderly Question Time.
I would remind the Taoiseach that he is here to answer my question. I have asked him a supplementary question and I now seek a reply.
When I was giving a weekly press conference it was the subject of continuous complaint from people on the Deputy's side of the House. I decide how I make announcements and when I should give press conferences. I will not be lectured by Deputy O'Keeffe as to when I should give them. I will reply to questions here every Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Taoiseach said in his reply to Deputy O'Keeffe that Ministers may consider it necessary to make announcements in the public interest without delay. In relation to the announcement made this week by the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, it can hardly be said that the Minister found himself taken short in respect of the implementation of the Culliton proposals. The House was in session and we have been waiting for it during the period of the last Government and this Government. Yet the Minister and the Government in regard to what they consider the most important area of job creation chose to make the decision for cosmetic and presentation purposes outside of this House. How does the Taoiseach reconcile that with the answer he has given here already?
I have stated clearly that the Minister in question decides what is the most appropriate manner in which to make public announcements. I would remind the House that as Taoiseach I have answered more questions than my predecessors, based on an analysis carried out in regard to Question Time.
Arising out of the Taoiseach's non-reply to my question about his avoiding press conferences and his transferring of as many questions as he can to other Ministers, is the statement in the Programme for Government that the hallmark of his Government would be openness and accountability in any way borne out by his obvious attempt to avoid the press as much as possible and to avoid answering questions in this House? I would ask the Taoiseach why, when I tabled this question originally, he attempted to avoid it by claiming he had no official responsibility to the Dáil in relation to the locations at which policy statements are made.
Quoting at Question Time is not in order.
Deputy O'Keeffe should go back to school to learn how this Dáil operates. The Ceann Comhairle decides on the matter he has referred to latterly. I have stated that I have answered more questions in this House than many of my predecessors.
The Taoiseach has referred the question to the appropriate Department.
If Deputy O'Keeffe does not like my answers he should not try to convince Deputies that I do not answer questions.
That is not what the Taoiseach was asked.
As a matter of courtesy, apart from its being a matter of direct responsibility to elected Members of the House, the appropriate forum for major policy decisions is Dáil Éireann. It is the exception rather than the rule that such decisions are made in Dáil Éireann. Major decisions on virtually every occasion are made outside the precincts of the House.
I do not think the efforts by either Deputy O'Keeffe or Deputy Higgins to turn this matter on its head will convince anybody of their sincerity. We do not need lectures on courtesy from Deputies O'Keeffe and Higgins. I perform my duties in this House. I answer questions on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and I will continue to do so. The practice followed is not new. The Fine Gael Deputies seem to wish to disclaim any responsibility for what happened when their party was in Government in the past.
May I——
A Cheann Comhairle——
Sorry, Deputies. I am now calling Question No. 3.
With all due respect——
With all due respect to the Chair, I have called Question No. 3 and it shall be responded to now.
This is an important matter.
What is the reason for the unseemly haste?
Please, Deputies, desist. This question has been adequately dealt with.
I shall be very brief.
No, Deputy, the Chair will be obeyed.
I do not wish to be disruptive——
On a point of order, is it not normal——
Please, Deputy, do not use a point of order to disrupt the proceedings at Question Time.
I wish to raise a point of order. Is it not normal and customary that the person who tables the question, even when only a few brief supplementaries have been allowed, is allowed to ask the last——
The Deputy was allowed to put many questions on this subject today, the record will show that.
The record will show that I was allowed two supplementaries in the normal fashion.
This is about the relevance of the Dáil.
I have called Question No. 3.
We are talking about a Taoiseach who says he wants to make the Dáil more relevant——
The Chair will not be browbeaten or intimidated in this matter. Question No. 3.
——yet he chose an outside venue in which to make significant and important announcements.
Why are you doing this, a Cheann Comhairle, on this question?
I have allowed sufficient questions on the matter, Deputy.
You allowed me two questions, Sir. I sought to ask a final supplementary and I should like to know why you have not allowed me to do so.
Please, Deputy.
I wish to protest in the strongest possible manner——
If the Deputy feels that the Taoiseach's reply was inadequate, he has a remedy.
What is it?
He may raise it is another way at another time.
It is normal for a Deputy who is not satisfied with a reply to raise supplementaries.
We will now have a reply to Question No. 3.
That has not happened on this occasion.
I will not allow my ruling——
This follows the original rejection of my question.
I have no control over that, Deputy.
I know that, Sir; it was rejected by the Taoiseach.
No. The Deputy should learn how the Dáil operates.
Question No. 3, please.
This gives rise to grave suspicions about the Taoiseach's commitment to the democratic process in this House. I ask you, Sir, to give me the opportunity, as usual, to ask one final supplementary question.
The Deputy is seeking to defy the ruling of the Chair. He has other ways and means of raising the matter if he is dissatisfied.
Are you clearly putting it on the record that on this occasion you are rejecting my efforts to have the normal courtesy shown to me to ask a final supplementary——
The record will show that the Deputy raised many questions on this issue.
I will show my feelings for your ruling, Sir, by departing from the House on this occasion. This is most unfair and it is unduly protecting the Taoiseach on an issue on which he obviously wants to be protected.
That insinuation is unworthy of the Deputy.
Absolutely.
Deputy J. O'Keeffe withdrew from the Chamber.
Question No. 3, please.
If Deputy O'Keeffe had remained in the House he might have got the announcement he was looking for.