Labour Question Taoiseach Over Proposed Appointment Of John Halligan

The Labour Party has called on the Taoiseach to seek a guarantee that a newly proposed Minister for State, John Halligan, will pay for his water.

Deputy leader of the Labour party, Alan Kelly, said that if Mr Halligan will not comply with the law by paying for his water, it would be "completely unacceptable" for the Taoiseach to appoint Deputy Halligan as a Minister of State.

"The appointment to high office of somebody who has clearly flouted the law for cynical political gain would be a slap in the face to the hundreds of thousands of households who have paid for their water, and would do further damage to people's trust in politics and politicians," Deputy Kelly said.

"Nobody, least of all ministers and ministers of state can pick and choose which laws they observe, and which laws they don't, and I think that this is a view that would be very widely held in Fine Gael.

That party purports to have a tradition of upholding the law, but if the Taoiseach fails to get the guarantee required from John Halligan, they can hardly claim to be the party of law and order anymore.

"Maybe they should change their tag line to 'We are the party of law and order, except in cases where we need their votes to stay in power'. What's next? Ministers choose not to pay their income tax?

It is incumbent on Taoiseach Enda Kenny to ensure that everybody who is privileged enough to be in a position to serve as a Minister in his Government fully respects the law. That includes John Halligan."

(MH/LM)