He is not answering the question.

I want to raise a very serious matter that has been raised by Deputy Catherine Murphy. It concerns the facts that the finance committee wrote to Mr. Robert Watt, Secretary General of the Department of Health, that it has actively sought information pertaining to the proposed secondment of Dr. Tony Holohan to Trinity College Dublin and that it has sought all the information pertaining to the clearance of up to €20 million in public moneys associated with that move. It also concerns the facts that the Department has …

This makes a mockery of the business we do. It is wholly unacceptable that a Minister or senior civil servant not only refuses to co-operate with a committee of this House but also acts to actively frustrate its work. We need a substantive response from the Taoiseach on this matter to make it very clear to his own ministerial team and, perhaps more important, the public administration — senior civil servants, including Mr. Watt himself — that Mr. Watt has no authority or role in frustrating the work of any committe…

Will the Taoiseach intervene to ensure that the information sought by the finance committee is furnished-----

-----and that the Minister for Health and Secretary General appear before the finance committee?

That is not an answer. That is entirely-----

The Minister for Health and the Secretary General of the Department of Health, Mr. Robert Watt, have both refused - refused - to attend the Oireachtas committee on finance. Furthermore, the Secretary General has failed to furnish that committee with documents it has requested; in fact, he has not even given it the courtesy of a response. I have in my hand a copy of the latest letter from the committee to the Secretary General, in which the committee Chair notes the lack of engagement and the apparent unwillingness …

It is unacceptable that Government Ministers and-----

But I want-----

I want-----

-----a substantive answer to this question. Will the Taoiseach ensure-----

-----that Robert Watt, the highest paid civil servant in the land, is-----

-----not allowed to frustrate the work of the finance committee? I want confirmation of that from the Taoiseach and confirmation that he will, if necessary, intervene.

The finance committee.

What about Robert Watt?

There is no witch hunt.

There is no witch hunt.

There is no witch hunt.

I have the letter here. I can cross the floor to the Taoiseach and put the letter in his hand.

This goes to the heart of how we do our business in the Oireachtas. It is unacceptable that any civil servant, Robert Watt or anyone else-----