INFORMATION Minister Daryl Vaz has admitted that he was taken to task by Political Ombudsman Bishop Herro Blair following complaints over comments he made at last week’s post-Cabinet press briefing.

During the press briefing, called to update journalists on the decisions of the Bruce Golding Cabinet, Vaz fired salvos at leading figures in the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) and said some of the opposition members of parliament were hypocrites.

Vaz also used the forum to criticise the Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme (JEEP), a job creation initiative which was announced a few days earlier by PNP President Portia Simpson Miller.

But leading figures in the PNP were upset that Vaz had used the post-Cabinet meeting for party political purposes.

The Opposition subsequently complained to Blair.

Responding to questions at yesterday’s post-Cabinet press briefing, Vaz indicated that he had accepted the position of the ombudsman.

“I got a letter from the ombudsman, basically indicating that the words that I used should be used elsewhere, which I accept, but there were no sanctions or anything because the words I used were normal words in the English dictionary,” said Vaz.

The information minister also told journalists that he would no longer be using the post-Cabinet briefing to respond to party matters.