Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Put it like this, I must say that in my six and a half years as a member of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality, this is probably the most extraordinary meeting I have ever attended. I have never come across a situation where senior public servants have effectively stonewalled. The bottom line is that the acting Secretary General cannot accept the fact that regardless of whether or not it was done unwittingly, the Department did not co-operate with the Charlton tribunal. Nobody is saying it was done purposefully but the fact that the trawl of documents ordered by the Taoiseach to be handed over to the tribunal proves the point. Deputy Kelly is right. I want Ms McPhillips to tell me how many people were in charge of the trawl. How many people were in charge of ensuring that the Department co-operated with the tribunal of inquiry? Everything down to a post-it should have been handed over.