There are a lot of backbenchers in again this morning for the Taoiseach.

Last Friday the Government was held accountable by the people, who gave their verdict. Every day in the House Opposition Deputies seek to hold Ministers accountable and in that context the parliamentary question is a vital instrument of accountability. Everyone remembers the words of the late Mr. Justice Hamilton, who said that if parliamentary questions had been answered truthfully and completely there might have been no need for a very expensive beef tribunal. I have noticed a trend in the last few years that some Ministers have become quite arrogant about their parliamentary responsibilities and the principle of providing full, complete answers to Dáil questions, a vital democratic instrument for Opposition Deputies.

I raise this matter because as head of Government the Taoiseach has a responsibility to ensure that Ministers fulfil their obligations in this regard. I also raise it because yesterday it became quite clear that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform misled the House in replying to a parliamentary question on 3 June and no apology has been offered to the House since. The facts of the case are clear. On 3 June Deputy Jim O'Keeffe asked the Minister if, prior to his appointment as a judge, Mr. Brian Curtin had been appointed as a member of any State agency, State board or committee. The Minister replied that in August 2001 Mr. Curtin, as he was then, had been appointed by the then Minister for Justice, Deputy O'Donoghue, as a member of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. Following a further question from Deputy O'Keeffe, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform admitted yesterday that Mr. Curtin, as he was then, had also been appointed to the Garda Appeals Board panel by the Minister, Deputy O'Donoghue, in May 2001. Neither in his reply to yesterday's question nor in a letter he sent to Deputy O'Keeffe did the Minister express any regret for having misled the House on 3 June.

I accept the Taoiseach is unlikely to have all the details of the case but I will supply him with the papers. Will he therefore explain to Ministers their responsibilities in giving full and complete answers to Dáil questions and will he ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to apologise to the House for having misled it on an important matter?

If Deputy Kenny gives me the papers I will look at the specific case. Obviously if a person is on a State board or State agency then normally that information is given in the parliamentary reply if it is given to the Minister by his Department. That is the normal procedure. If the fact that the person was on the Garda Appeals Board or the Refugee Appeals Tribunal was missed then obviously the Minister would not have given that information and he gave it yesterday. If the Deputy gives me the data I will look at it.

Parliamentary replies and the procedure for such replies is a matter of long precedent in the House. Ministers are obliged, both with parliamentary questions and oral questions, to give information. They are supplied by their Departments with supplementary data which they use to the extent necessary in replies. Over the years we have had to deal with parliamentary replies going on for too long and taking up time for supplementary questions. I assure Deputy Kenny that the Government's attitude is that as long as it is a departmental matter, not an agency matter when we tend to say that it is a matter for the agency, we should give full and complete information. That is the process Ministers and Ministers of State follow here every day and there is no change in that. If the Deputy gives me the papers I will check the individual case.

I thank the Taoiseach for saying he will check these papers. It is perfectly clear that the information had to be dragged out of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I assume a file exists in that Department on the appointment of persons to State boards, committees and panels. When former Deputy Nora Owen was Minister for Justice Deputy O'Donoghue was the Opposition spokesperson and when the fax machine refused to work in the Department it nearly provoked a constitutional crisis.

Allegations are being made to me that this information was deliberately concealed by the Minister. I am not making that charge but I would like the Taoiseach to ask the Minister to deal with this matter before the House. He should instruct all his Ministers to give full, thorough and complete information to Deputies insofar as possible when answering parliamentary questions. After all, the Government was held accountable by and received a mid-term verdict from the people last Friday. If it is now to reflect on the consequences of that verdict then it should, in the interests of democracy, give full and complete answers. Will the Taoiseach instruct his Ministers to do that? Will he deal specifically with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when I present him with these papers, which clearly show that the House was misled about appointments made by the previous Minister for Justice involving Mr. Brian Curtin?

As I said I will check the second point, but I note that Deputy Kenny accepts that this was probably an omission. Normally it is something that would be included in a reply and if it were omitted I do not think the Minister was misleading the House in any way. Obviously he replied the second time but I will check it out.

For the past seven years, since the start of this Government, it has been our intention to give full information in parliamentary replies. When agencies have responsibility, it is not the Department which is giving information. I know it creates frustration when Members table questions to a Minister and they do not get the information because it is the agency's responsibility. That has long been a procedure of the House where the information is with either commercial or non-commercial State companies. That is something over which we do not have control.

I find that interesting. It may not have been deliberate but, for example, for seven weeks I tried to get information on non-national births in the Dublin maternity hospitals. I finally got a reply this morning dated 11 June. I got pages of details on where babies were born which, for the seven weeks before the referendum, I was told was not in the possession of any agency. I am afraid I am not as forgiving as Deputy Kenny.

Will the Taoiseach instruct the Minister for Finance to dip into the crock of gold——

The Deputy is entitled to ask one question on a topical issue. He started off on a different issue.