Vol. 438 No. 7
6 Ms O'Donnell asked the Taoiseach the situation in relation to Ministers of State who are candidates in the forthcoming European elections; if they will be allowed to continue in office in view of the demands of their campaign as well as the proper performance of their ministerial duties; the way in which the demands of the two roles will be reconciled; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Under the provisions of the European Assembly Elections Act, 1984, Ministers of State are not required to resign their office in order to contest the European Assembly elections. Under the same Act, however, they must cease to hold office upon being elected to the European Assembly.
As I am sure the Deputy is aware, under our Constitution and under the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 1979, Ministers and Ministers of State remain in office and continue to carry out their functions during general elections although, in almost all instances, they are candidates in the elections. In the circumstances, I do not see any reason why Ministers of State should not continue in office while they contest European Assembly elections.
Now that the two Ministers concerned are declared candidates in the European elections, have they given up their car allowances, expenses and advisory staff? Would it not be reasonable to expect those allowances to be withdrawn given that there is a possible conflict, or as it is called now "a coincidence of interest", relating to their continuing on as Ministers at the expense of the taxpayer and also being candidates in the European Assembly elections?
The answer to the Deputy's first question is "No". The answer to the Deputy's second question is that I do not regard the situation as either a coincidence or a conflict of interest. The Act, to which I referred in my reply, was passed at a time when the Government Chief Whip of the day was a candidate in the European elections. As in all general elections — although I am not equating them with European elections — Ministers and Ministers of State do not resign. They continue to carry out their official duties and that remains the position.
In view of the fact that Ministers have a large burden of work in their ministries, how can they perform those duties to the satisfaction of the taxpayer as well as travelling through the country on an election campaign?
Ministers and Ministers of State are nearly always candidates in elections and business is carried on as usual. The logic of Deputy O'Donnell's argument is that if people are not able to do two jobs at the one time as a result of the dual mandate they should resign. That is the logic of the argument the Deputy is making.
Do the same considerations apply in the case of a Cabinet Minister? What would be the situation if a Cabinet Minister were added to the ticket, say in Leinster for example? Has the Taoiseach had any success in persuading a Minister to run in the Leinster constituency? Specifically how is he getting on with Minister Andrews?
We are having an extension of this question.
The Taoiseach always gets on very well with me.
Will the Taoiseach say whether this House will be deprived of Minister Andrews' talents?
Has the Deputy thought about it himself?
Deputy Rabbitte may be surprised to hear that I had not requested any member of the Cabinet to stand for Europe, but if he is concerned about the double obligation, he can consult his leader who carried the dual mandate for quite some time and always said in this House that he could do it adequately.
We now come to deal with priority questions for which 20 minutes only are provided under Standing Orders.
