I noticed the Deputy Adams and his party have been very upfront in naming people who are not here to defend themselves. Let me be clear about this.

The Taoiseach has done the same.

This Government has reduced the number and the cost of ministerial advisers by 30% since the end of 2009, from €4.7 million to €3.6 million. Some 39 of the 41 ministerial advisers in the last Government were earning salaries well above €92,000.

Fianna Fáil is quiet now.

We are not. This is not for optics.

Clonmel has an Army barracks.

The person who Deputy Adams mentioned and named and who cannot defend himself in here worked for the party that I lead for eight, nine or ten years——

That is fair enough.

——and had a salary well in excess of the limit that was set in these guidelines.

Fine Gael accepts corporate donations.

Corporate donations.

In fact, he received no pay and was in the job for five months before he received any payment.

Taking money off the——

The Taoiseach threw him across the road.

One of my jobs as Taoiseach is to sanction advisers. I do not negotiate in terms of salary scales for any adviser.

Look after yourselves first.

My job is either to sanction them or not. In this case, yes, I did send an e-mail in respect of the sanction of this person. I point out to Deputy Adams that, in the guidelines under which all of these people are appointed, No. 4.7 points out that in circumstances where particular experience, technical expertise or skills are required or——

Or party loyalty.

——in exceptional circumstances, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, in agreement with the Minister for Finance, may sanction a higher salary rate. The person involved has a Masters degree in economics——

He will need it.

——and has long experience in dealing with the ways of politics. He was chosen by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation for getting people off the dole and providing opportunities for working careers.

Did the Government advertise the position?

I did my duty in respect of sanctioning that advisory position.

I did not name the person.

Deputy Adams did name the person.

The Chief Whip is good at naming people.

Does Deputy Healy-Rae want to tell us how many hundreds of thousands of euro his company gets from Kerry County Council?

I will not put up with Deputy Durkan for much longer. Enough is enough.

The heckling was started by the Chief Whip. There is no respect for Opposition spokespersons from that side of the House.

What about respect for life?

Can Deputy Adams get on with his question? I am trying to deal with an impossible situation. People should have basic manners and I cannot teach them basic manners.