That is shameful from the Green Party. Disgraceful.

The Minister ignored it for four years.

Hear, hear.

I have a number of questions for the Tánaiste concerning the appointment of the former Attorney General, Mr. Justice Séamus Woulfe, to the Supreme Court. The Government has so far adopted an approach of refusing to answer questions about any of this but this is a really important matter. It is not trivial. It is a job that carries with it a salary in excess of €220,000, which is paid by taxpayers. Those taxpayers have a right to know how Mr. Justice Woulfe was appointed and who really made the decisions. Refusing t…

The Tánaiste talks about the separation of powers. He was Taoiseach. He facilitated the then Minister for Justice and Equality coming here three years ago to answer questions on the process, not in Private Members' time. That is what the Opposition and the leader of my party are looking for. We asked the Tánaiste specific questions, but he did not answer one of them. When did he tell the leaders of Fianna Fáil and the Green Party that Mr. Justice Woulfe had come through the JAAB process? Did he know of the other th…

Does the Tánaiste know if the other three judges-----

No, she did not.

Hear, hear.

Ba mhaith liom cur leis an méid a dúirt an Ceann Comhairle. Tá súil agam go mbeidh saol fada sásta ag Brian agus é ag éirí as an phost. The Ceann Comhairle might clarify to the House the position in respect of the switching of ministerial questions and the appropriateness of doing that without consultation with Members of the Opposition. We are hearing that the Minister for Justice has now pushed back her questions to December. Again, this is another way in which the Government is trying to refuse and deny the Oppo…

This goes back to the Tánaiste's time as Minister for Health, when he came up with this contract system that was signed off by the former Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris.

What will the Government do to curtail the costs? When will we find out when this hospital will be built?

There are no questions on justice. This is all the more reason the Minister for Justice needs to come here to answer questions.

The Government has pushed back questions to the Minister for Justice. It is ridiculous. This is a serious matter.

They are saying it is coincidence.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine could swap with any other Minister. This is about people in this House denying the Opposition a chance. They will not allow for a debate. The Minister has been scheduled to come in since way back in September.

Tuesday's business sees the Government trying to push through a motion to appoint Geraldine Feeney to the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO. Not only is it trying to force through that motion without any debate, last week I pointed out that the Government's appointee to the commission was a professional, paid lobbyist on behalf of the National Association of General Practitioners, NAGP. We know that the Tánaiste provided confidential documents to the president of that group, who at that time was his frien…

He would have been aware of the fact that she provided that role when they decided to appoint Ms Feeney to the commission. Can the Taoiseach satisfy the House, before we deal with this issue, that Ms Feeney has actually made all the returns that are necessary to the Commission? Will the Taoiseach enlighten the House on Ms Feeney's role in relation to the lobbying activity-----

-----that was carried out here on 21 March 2018? Was Ms Feeney required to submit a submission to the Standards in Public Office Commission in that regard? Why is the Taoiseach afraid of a debate on this in the House? One of the first issues the commission will have to deal with is the official complaint-----

-----that has been made against the Tánaiste, Deputy Leo Varadkar, around leaking the document for the NAGP. In his wisdom, the Taoiseach believes that this House should, without debate, just pass a motion to appoint the paid lobbyist of the NAGP to that commission.

The arrogance of the Government is absolutely breathtaking.