Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I guarantee that I have no intention of leaving without answering all members' questions.

Mr. Ferreti has not replied to the request. To answer the question about why I came home, it was a case of deciding where I would be more useful in accelerating the fact-finding process and, presumably, setting up an inquiry. In respect of the agreement which we seemed to be on the verge of making the night before Mr. Hickey was arrested, it was not certain that we had an agreement as Mr. Hickey said he had to consult his executive. That was overtaken by events. Once he was arrested, all bets were off in that regard. I was in touch with the Attorney General and my Minister of State at the time, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, and strongly advised that Dublin was the best place in which to make a decision and that I should come home. I also thought Dublin was a fairly sensible place for me to be because it was a matter of great public importance at the time that a decision be made in the interests of protecting Ireland's reputation. I would have preferred to stay in Brazil until the Olympic Games were over, but it was very important that we made decisions and were seen to be making the right ones in the interests of the OCI and the people.