Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is and has always been the position that it is a matter for Cabinet and particularly the Attorney General to make recommendations in this area based on the expertise of the Attorney General of the day as to what are the appropriate terms of reference. The terms of reference for an inquiry of this nature would not in normal course be the subject of debate among committee members. I may be entirely wrong but it could be very difficult for members of the committee to agree on what are the terms of reference. The Attorney General is the law officer of the State and her sole role in this is to ensure that terms of reference that are as broad as possible are provided to facilitate the full and careful addressing of all of the issues relevant to this matter. That is my objective and that of the Cabinet and we will be proceeding in that manner.