Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I agree we should afford Mr. Daly the opportunity to appear before the committee as soon as that is possible for him. I wish to return to one paragraph of his letter, which the Chairman read out as follows:

It is also important that I emphasise that all information connected with the matters to which you have referred, and aspects of which have been the subject of certain recent media reports, remains strictly confidential and covered by legal privilege.

If something is in the national media, we cannot un-see it. It is perfectly valid for us to act on something that is in the newspapers that is drawing attention to an issue of major concern. It is perfectly valid and it would be absolutely inappropriate for us not to follow up on it. It has been raised here on numerous occasions that the fair deal scheme requires a thorough investigation. This particular aspect would be very much part of the deliberations that would take place at a single point or over a number of meetings.