I have been raising the issue of the Minister, Deputy Coveney's, State car. In relation to that, the five things we now know are that the Tánaiste made the request for this when he was Taoiseach; the current Taoiseach knew nothing about it, even though it was actioned while he was Taoiseach; the Minister for Justice and Equality knew nothing about it; the Government decision from 2011 regarding the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality having State cars still stands and has not been changed; and there is no paper trail and all of this has been done orally. I have some questions for the Tánaiste. How could he, as Taoiseach in the previous Government, make a request for a State car for a Minister in a Government that had not yet been formed? How is that constitutionally possible? Did he make this request in the full knowledge that Deputy Coveney would be the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in a Government that had not yet been formed?

There is no mystery and no conspiracy here and the Deputy can exaggerate it and all the rest. I am happy to be very clear about this. There are particular security protocols when it comes to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade travelling to Northern Ireland. When that Minister, whoever he or she may be, travels to Northern Ireland, that person has to have a Garda car and Garda protection, that is, an armed driver. They are met at the Border by the PSNI which escorts them throughout Northern Ireland. That has been security protocol for the best part of 20 years. For most of the past ten years, the Tánaiste has also been the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade so this has not been an issue. However, it happened on occasion, when the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade was not the Tánaiste, that they had to have civilian drivers south of the Border and also had to have use of a Garda car when going to Northern Ireland. That was the situation that the former Minister, Deputy Flanagan, dealt with. When I knew I was to be the Tánaiste and that, therefore, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in the next Government would not be the Tánaiste, I asked the Secretary General of the Government to look into the matter and decide what was appropriate. That was the beginning and end of my involvement in this. The Secretary General made inquiries and the Garda Commissioner advised that it would be appropriate for the current arrangements to be maintained.