Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

Maladministration does not just affect public officials. When we stated that these charges were levied, we thought it was on the basis of good faith and that no one knew that what we were doing was wrong. That was not the case. It became very clear over recent weeks that it had been known for a considerable time that we were acting illegally. That is why I stated what I did. The Travers report will deal with this issue. I hope to have it to hand tomorrow, bring it before the Cabinet on Tuesday and publish it that day. I assure the House that there is no question of my sitting on it because of the by-elections.

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