I am sure my question is predictable. Last Sunday the Sunday Independent carried a story that a senior member of the Government was involved in what is known as the Aer Rianta drinks scandal. Will the Taoiseach confirm whether there is any veracity in the allegation made in last Sunday's newspaper that brandy, whiskey and cigars to the value of €5,000 was delivered in a van to a Minister in the 1990s and that the bill has not yet been paid? Has he called in his Ministers and asked them if there is any truth in the allegation in the newspaper report? Are current Cabinet members or members of the second bench involved centrally or otherwise in this story? Has the Taoiseach spoken to Aer Rianta's auditor? Has he contacted Mr. O'Leary, a former board member and member of Fianna Fáil, who assisted former Deputy Lawlor through a side door when he was on his way to serve a jail sentence? I am sure Mr. O'Leary would be more than anxious to help the Taoiseach to sort out this problem.
Does the Taoiseach have any sense of the outrage felt by the public? If a Minister used the facilities of a semi-State body as a personal shop, it would amount to a gross abuse of public trust and he or she would not be deemed fit to hold public office. Given that this puts the members of the Cabinet in the spotlight, will the Taoiseach explain why it will take a fortnight to get a report on what should be a simple matter? Will he ask each of his Ministers individually this evening, if he has not already done so, to confirm that he or she is not the subject of this allegation and that he or she is not and has not been involved in any such ministerial profligacy of the State coffers?