Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail)

It was withdrawn by Senator Leyden because the Minister indicated it would be opposed. Many of the Minister of State's colleagues were in favour of the Family Home Bill.

Senator Crown has identified a very serious issue but unfortunately the Minister of State concentrated only on two aspects of the Bill, which are contact with the Garda Síochána and the Office of the DPP. I assumed it was already illegal to contact a member of the Garda Síochána or the DPP on criminal matters and I have never done so. I state to Senator Crown that I believe very few Members have contacted the DPP; I cannot imagine why I would ever do so and I have never been asked to do so. I have contacted the Irish Prison Service on several occasions with regard to humane conditions for prisoners and that is fair enough. I am concerned about Senator Crown's requirement that this be made public at the time. The fact of an Oireachtas Member's representation is already subject to freedom of information legislation. The Bill goes slightly further than this by requiring all details of it to be public at the time. Perhaps this goes too far.

However, there is merit in the Bill and merit in discussing the issue. Fears have been expressed by people and it has occurred that Members of the Oireachtas have inappropriately tried to interfere in the criminal system. This is not right and it is correct that some form of regulation or type of openness is put in place. I would not extend this openness to the Garda or anyone involved in prosecuting a crime. This would be wrong. However, a legitimate case can be made with regard to the Probation Service, the Prison Service and the parole board. The only one of these I have ever contacted is the Prison Service. I have never had cause to contact An Post about a criminal matter. I must admit I once wrote to Iarnród Éireann about a lady who had been fined for not having a ticket and felt it was unjust. It never occurred to me that I was interfering in a criminal process but I can see the point. The matter involved a fine of €60.

Once, I was asked to request a local authority to drop a prosecution. I thought the approach to me was highly inappropriate and I declined to do it. I thought it was wrong that I would be asked to contact a local authority about a criminal offence with regard to dumping and I did not do it. In fairness I think this would be the attitude of most people. If I was asked to do it, who else was also asked and who made representations in these cases? Therefore, there is merit in Senator Crown's Bill.

The Bill also covers the Competition Authority and the Financial Regulator. Many representations were made to the Financial Regulator when investigations were taking place with regard to Quinn Insurance. While most were done openly, perhaps the independence of the Financial Regulator came second to the issue of jobs in the area.

The Government has not shown itself to be open to Private Members' Bills. The speech by the Minister of State was insulting to Professor Crown, who is an eminent surgeon and who has taken on this issue with the utmost seriousness.