Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise two matters. First, I wish to clarify something. I said that the witness should consider his position. It may well be, without prejudice, because of his successful career in acquiring knowledge and expertise that he has something of a monopoly on information. I mean this in a respectful way. As a result of the latter and because of the public confidence issue, it is on that basis, and without having done anything wrong, it might be better for the authority if the witness stepped aside. However, I have a specific question. He mentioned that a nursing home had approached him and asked him to remain silent on a report that was, perhaps, going to have a negative impact on it and the witness point-blank refused to do so. That is admirable and I respect it. In light of the fact that we were given information that cannot be mentioned here due to legal privilege, when that nursing home approached the witness to intervene in the matter, were threats made by the nursing home to the effect that if the witness did not comply with the request, it would seek to make public conflicts of interest that it was alleging, be they true or untrue? In essence, was there an attempt by this nursing home to blackmail the witness?