Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

May I finish my sentence? I have many questions about Owenacurra, but Mr. Farrelly started this process by saying he would not talk about Owenacurra. I am trying to get to the bottom of why that is the case. The normal practice at a committee is such that if a witness can flag if he or she does not want to talk about something. It is completely normal for committee members to cite examples from their life about how something is working. From Mr. Farrelly's point of view, the standard practice is for a witness to notify the committee that there is some legal reason a question cannot be asked and to outline that reason for that committee, but that is not the case here. A witness cannot appear before a committee and say something regulatory is going on and that, therefore, we cannot talk about it. Committees do not work that way. Witnesses do not get to say they will not talk about something. They have to give reasons.