Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am telling the truth. The committee has been left in the dark about the legal advice because it is privileged, but I assure the committee that that is the advice we received. Sometimes, legal advice is the last thing I want to get. It can be and has on many occasions been a nightmare for a Minister to receive legal advice but it would be a very foolish and reckless Minister who would defy such advice. If I did not act in accordance with the legal advice, the Deputy would be the first person to ask me what I was doing.