All that being said, the consequences of it I accept are very serious.

That is why I have taken the lengths that I have to explain to the Dáil and to change my expenses submissions. I will engage with SIPO in the way it deals with it.

I am aware of that dark history. I know what it did to our politics and I do not play any part in it. The Deputy has made a number of assertions there-----

-----a number of assertions in regard to the awarding of State contracts. The Deputy knows that I play no part in determining who gets a contract in this State. You know that. You know in particular that I play no role in who gets a contract from the Houses of the Oireachtas. What you have done is made a series of----

What those kinds of assertions do is every bit as dark for the future of our politics as the consequences of the history the Deputy referred to. He knows I play no role in the allocation of any State contract. He knows it is done in an independent, competitive way by the Office of Public Works and every other State body. Not only did the Deputy make a number of assertions that he knows are wrong. Let me also tell him about one that he may not know to be wrong. He said a moment ago that the chair of the north-east i…

It was appointed by the Department of the Taoiseach. It was a decision that was made by the Department of the Taoiseach and it is precisely in recognition of the kind of issues and concerns that might arise in relation to a task force within my own constituency that it is being run out of the Department of the Taoiseach, not any State body or any Government Department I am responsible for.

The only part of the Deputy's statement that I wish to acknowledge in a positive way is his recognition of the work that Mr. Stone did in the north-east inner city.

This is an approach that many other Deputies have called for to be replicated in other parts of the country. One of the driving forces of its success was Mr. Stone's work. This is one of the many reasons I deeply regret how this issue has developed and that I am in a position of having to make the case for it and to defend it in the Dáil. I will turn to the four points that the Deputy put to me, the first of which is the fact that some posters may have been put up during the day. I said at the time that we were ref…

It is difficult enough to remember what happened with posters going up seven years ago. I acknowledge that some of them could have gone up during the day. Regarding how the tickets were purchased, I am afraid I do not know that. That is a private matter but I can assure the House-----

-----that all of the ticket sales were done in a way that was compliant with SIPO law.

However, I made the decision to reveal and indicate in the House the purchase of these tickets because I felt it was a relevant matter of which the House should be aware.

Regarding the valuation of the posters, Deputy Mattie McGrath referred to a figure of €5,000, which I believe comes from my constituency colleague, Senator Fitzpatrick. It is worth emphasising again that the difference between the two figures is the fact that the vast majority of the posters that were put up in all of my election campaigns were put up by friends, family and volunteers using their private vehicles. What is so regrettable about this situation is that the amount of activity that I now understand was n…

Obviously, it was not in cash. The purchase of the tickets and how they were registered happened in a way that had to be compliant with SIPO's guidelines, but I felt it was appropriate, given the interest in this matter, to declare that information voluntarily.

A Cheann Comhairle, thank you for the opportunity you have afforded me to respond to the many issues and questions raised this afternoon. I have done my best to respond to each matter in a truthful and accurate way. It is the greatest of privileges to be a Member of the Oireachtas, to represent the constituents of Dublin Central and, above all, to contribute as a member of the Government to improving the lives of the people I serve. I have served under three taoisigh in three successive governments. During that tim…

I have apologised for my errors in these events. I do so again now. I take hard-won lessons from them, and I will carry those lessons with me as I continue to serve the people.

Yes, I will deal with the question.

I will deal with that question but I also want to say that I do plan to make a further statement in relation to issues involving the 2016 general election campaign and matters that were put to me last night.

I just want to reiterate that I do intend to make a further statement to the House. I will do so at the earliest possible opportunity, at which point I will revert to the Ceann Comhairle.

As the Deputy will be aware, the annual defence sector budget, comprising Vote 35, Army pensions, and Vote 36, defence, is determined within the overarching budgetary framework and approved by Dáil Eireann, having regard to the level of resources available and defence policy requirements, with multi-annual capital envelopes determined as part of the overarching national development plan, NDP. It should be noted that 2022 expenditure figures are not yet definitive. Provisional outturn figures for last year are due n…

I thank the Deputy. The aim of the decision that has been made here, which I believe is the right one, is to put in place a more realistic assumption regarding what recruitment will be in the time ahead so that it is a better foundation on which to build the Estimate for the Defence Forces and the Department of Defence. As the Deputy is aware, there is a commission in place with regard to how we can strengthen the Defence Forces. I thank him for his involvement in that. It has led to a number of commitments being m…