asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he or his Minister of State gave instructions to their officials to refer all representations and inquiries from Deputies to them before any reply or information is furnished; and, if so, why.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Deputies' Representations.
12.
No such instructions have been given.
Can the Minister say if such instructions were given by his predecessor in office?
At the request of the previous Minister of State all representations and inquiries made directly by Deputies to officials at the Department were referred to the office of the Minister of State and were acknowledged and replied to from there. The only exception was that the Secretary replied to inquiries made to him directly by the former Taoiseach, Ministers and Ministers of State. The effect of the former Minister of State's decision is that all letters and inquiries addressed to the Secretary, sections within the Department and sections locally and nationally are now directed to my office. This has caused a pile up in my office which is almost impossible to disentangle. The decision was solely that of Deputy Killilea.
Is the Minister aware that I brought this proposal before the House?
That is correct.
I got unanimous agreement on all sides.
Deputy McMahon was not here on that day.
He was. It was on the orders of the House that I made that arrangement because of the utter confusion that existed in the Department. It was done with the approval of the House and not by any ingenious method those two smart men would have us believe.
Why is Deputy Brady complaining then?
I have put the facts before the Deputy.
I should be complaining because I get replies from only two Ministers. The remainder of the replies are from Private Secretaries and that is no credit to the Government.
In addition, I signed all letters myself.
(Interruptions.)
To quote what Deputy Killilea said — a mere Minister of State working in hard and difficult times.
I am glad I set a precedent.
Would the Minister of State agree that the Deputy made it easier for him by installing a word processor?