Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

When it comes to the priorities of the committee, given that we know that there is an internal audit function and an audit committee in place and that the actual Vote is underspent, one has to wonder why this is being brought forward now. What is the rush to do it now? Anyone who is watching these proceedings and who does not think there is some form of political capital to be gained, maybe outside this room, from this going ahead now is not being realistic.

Of course it will be impossible for the Chairman to unsay things that will be said in here that are linked to a candidate who is currently in office. The Chairman needs to think about that. He will not be able to unsay those things. The media will not be able to unreport those things. As a consequence, this rubbish about doing it before the closing date is irrelevant and insincere. I am not referring to the Chairman, but people are saying this. This campaign is up and running. It is everywhere. It is the most dominant story across the media and has been for weeks and months. I am not finished. The fact is that this is an ongoing campaign. If we are going to jump into this now, it will really say an awful lot about this committee, about its priorities and about the fact that, from a political point of view, while we might leave our jerseys outside the door - I believe that and I share Deputy MacSharry's faith in it - the Chairman will not be able to unsay things said inside here, to unlink them from one candidate or to stop them being reported in the media. That will be damaging to this committee and will have an impact on the presidential election. We damn well better think about this very clearly and we better get legal advice because I do not want to be associated with a committee that goes down that road without its eyes open. Things will happen in that meeting and we will not be able to undo them. I have one last point with regard to this. I do not think there is any way we can move without getting legal advice before next Tuesday.