Does the Taoiseach agree that the prime motivation for the announcement on decentralisation last week was the political interest of his party to avoid decimation at the local elections next year and that the programme has been heavily influenced by political considerations? Clearly, having a Minister in or adjacent to a constituency has meant more civil servants in the raffle for the public service. Of the eight Departments to be decentralised, five are either in or close to Minister's constituencies and only one quarter of the posts will go to towns mentioned in the national spatial strategy.
Given that the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Parlon, has openly boasted that this was heavily influenced by political considerations and his involvement was central to the announcement of the transfer of civil servants to his constituency, does the Taoiseach consider that the Minister of State, for one, is clearly in breach of paragraph 1.4 of the Public Office Commission's code of conduct for Ministers and Ministers of State?