Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for his introduction. I remind him of the precedent of 10 June 1987 when the then Taoiseach proposed on the Order of Business that the Standing Order be set aside for a discussion on a matter that was before the courts. I will abide by the Ceann Comhairle's ruling.

Everyone in the House and throughout the country is acutely aware of the damage being done to public confidence and the democratic process by the torrent of revelations emanating from the various tribunals set up by the Oireachtas, which were also aired specifically in the public media last weekend. In particular, people are disgusted by the litany of wrongdoing exposed by numerous former and current colleagues of the Taoiseach's and the way in which these people appear to have been privately accommodated and protected by Fianna Fáil. We remember the debates and the actions of Messrs. Haughey, Burke, Lawlor and Foley and Deputy Collins. Will the Taoiseach take this opportunity to give straight answers to straight questions?

Given that unresolved allegations remain, on what basis did the Taoiseach re-admit my constituency colleague, Deputy Cooper-Flynn, to the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party? Did he receive an unequivocal commitment from her that she was never involved in any way in facilitating or promoting tax evasion? Did the Minister involved at the time, the former Deputy Pádraig Flynn, ever say he would repay the £50,000 at the centre of this controversy?

Can the Taoiseach confirm to the Dáil if it is true that the Mahon tribunal wrote to him on 18 November last and in December about documents that he had told the House were being sent back to the tribunal in 1999? Can he tell the Dáil when these documents were sent back to the tribunal? If the Taoiseach did not receive such a letter, is it now his intention to sue the newspaper involved, as he chose to do in the "Starry" O'Brien case, to protect his integrity?

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