Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I have a brief supplementary question. I have listened carefully to the points raised by Mr. Carlyle. The volume of correspondence on this issue is familiar. However, we are not talking about the volumes of correspondence. We are talking about this particular item of correspondence. I welcome that, while we were told previously it might be an extract from a CIÉ document, Mr. Carlyle has made it very clear that it is part of CIÉ documentation. That is positive and I welcome it.

He has indicated that he does not think it is explosive because it is merely a point on a position paper, etc. However, I put it to Mr. Carlyle that if it is a position paper, it is one which outlines a course of action that senior people in CIÉ at the time, at the very least, felt may have been in breach of CIÉ's legal obligations to its workforce. That is a big and a serious issue. It also does not explain Mr. Carlyle's unwillingness to fund independent legal opinion for the representatives of the CIÉ workers. A course of action has been pursued not over the past year or two years, but over the course of almost the past ten years. Flowing from that analysis, in that particular appendix, this indicates that Mr. Carlyle was not confident that it would stand up in a court of law. At the very least, CIÉ may be in breach of its legal obligations.

Mr. Gill was asked if he gave that position paper to the Minister. He replied by saying that he was not required to do so. That was not answering the question. He was asked if he gave it to the Minister. I would also like to know if the substance of it was discussed with the Minister or subsequent Ministers. I know what is required or not required. Was it given to the Minister or was it discussed with the Ministers?