Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Within a half hour of it being sent out, the phones were hopping with people asking for this, that and the other. We cannot work this way. I do not know what the Chairman can do about it. There are many people who are not yet here but I ask the Chairman to speak with everybody on the committee individually. We will get more documentation that will be highly sensitive. We are talking about very serious issues relating to the security of our State. This constant stream of documentation will end up in the media and be analysed. Deputy Madigan is right in that a spin or opinion will be put on it. I do not know how journalists could have examined the documentation sent to us and joined it with others since we got it yesterday; we could not do it in that time. There is a theme emerging that these are the real issues but there is much deeper stuff coming from this documentation. We can join it with other matters. This is like a big jigsaw and we will continue to work at it.

While in public session I should also say that the volume of documentation we have not yet received is, frankly incredible. All the documentation I requested has not arrived. It is very specific documentation, so that is deeply worrying. Perhaps the Chairman could speak with members of the committee individually and ask them to ensure that all documentation is kept in house.