Martin accuses Taoiseach over Dáil questions

TAOISEACH ENDA Kenny wrote to the Ceann Comhairle 69 times in six weeks to ask for TDs’ parliamentary questions to be disallowed, the Dáil has heard.

During very sharp exchanges, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin also claimed that in the same period, Mr Kenny transferred 98 questions to other Ministers “in order that he would not be obliged to answer them”.

He called on the Taoiseach to withdraw claims he had previously made that “he took no role in seeking the large-scale disallowance and transfer of questions from deputies. He should withdraw formally the statement he put on the record of the House.”.

Mr Kenny dismissed the claim as “ludicrous” and said the system of allocating questions had been in place for a long time. If his questions were placed more accurately in terms of the responsibilities of the Department of the Taoiseach, they would be answered.

Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett intervened in the dispute and said that all departments regularly sought to have questions disallowed. He said it was wrong to suggest that “people lobby me in some way to disallow questions. This is not true.”

Mr Martin said no such suggestion was made. He said the only point he was making was that “the Taoiseach told the House specifically that he took no role in seeking the disallowance of questions. That was untrue.”

He added: “The last time the Taoiseach was in the House he made a big song and dance to the effect he made no attempt to do so”.

During a tetchy question time, Mr Martin also hit out at the Taoiseach for failing to release the text of the document from the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, on corporation tax. Mr Martin said the Taoiseach “has been praising himself for six months for saying ‘No’ to Mr Van Rompuy” but “he has been refusing to show that text to anyone”.

Mr Kenny had refused to release the document in a Freedom of Information request “claiming the rules of the European Council would not allow this”.

The Fianna Fáil leader said he had contacted the European Council “which stated that it could not supply the text directly but would encourage the national government to release it”.

Mr Martin called on Mr Kenny to release the text but the Taoiseach said Mr Martin should “give up trying to resurrect something that is now of no consequence”.

While Mr Van Rompuy “made a suggestion regarding a compromise in a difficult situation, it was not in a text that was circulated generally and I have no intention of commenting further on it”.