Fallout over 'kebab' row and apology continues

Minister of State Conor Lenihan had issued an apology for his "kebab" remark and that had to be accepted, the Dáil was told as Labour repeatedly questioned whether procedural rules had been properly applied when he made the statement.

"The Minister put a disclaimer on the record yesterday and that must be accepted," Ceann Comhairle Rory O'Hanlon stressed as he ruled out of order questions about the apology.

On Wednesday, Mr Lenihan made a statement in the Dáil after he had told Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins that he should "stick to the kebabs", which was taken as a reference to Mr Higgins's efforts on behalf of Turkish migrant workers in dispute with construction company Gama.

Yesterday, Mr Higgins made a reference to The Irish Times front-page cartoon depicting Mr Lenihan roasting on a spit.

The Dublin West TD said that if newspaper cartoonists kept showing the Minister "protruding from a kebab on the roasting spit, collective nausea among the population will cause a collapse in trade for honest kebab sellers in this country".

He believed that Mr Lenihan "must shudder at what cartoonists would have done if he advised me to stick with lettuce as well as the kebab". Given Mr Lenihan's "crass insensitivity", Mr Higgins called on the Government to "compel Gama Construction Ireland Ltd to reinstate sacked workers and to pay the overtime they are due".

Earlier, Labour's chief whip Emmet Stagg questioned whether the Ceann Comhairle had properly applied procedural rules which gave him discretion to permit a TD to make a personal explanation to the Dáil, once written notice was given. But Dr O'Hanlon pointed out that there were many precedents for statements being made without following this procedure.

Labour leader Pat Rabbitte, who has had frequent rows with Dr O'Hanlon about procedural rules, accused him of allowing a TD to "sneak into this House to give an apology" without the other party whips being informed. Dr O'Hanlon insisted that this had nothing to do with the chair.