Joe Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

The record speaks for itself. I was in the House when the former Minister for Defence made the statement. I am raising this question because the former Minister made a serious allegation against a former chairman of the Civil Defence Board, Dr. Michael Ryan, that I believe should not be allowed to remain on the record. That is the purpose of tabling this question.

On 29 June 2004, the previous Minister suggested that Dr. Ryan had to be removed from his position because he had hampered the effective performance of the Civil Defence Board's functions, and that this removal was necessary for the effective performance of the board's functions.

When Dr. Ryan took a court action for unfair dismissal, the matter was settled on 24 November 2004. As part of the settlement a statement was read by the Minister referring to the honourable and dedicated service of Dr. Ryan, and praising the manner in which he had carried out his responsibilities.

The question is whether the statement made by the Minister or the statement read out in court is correct. Which is it? Does the Minister accept that a serious injustice was done to Dr. Ryan? Will he now formally withdraw the serious accusation against Dr. Ryan? The accusation was made but was changed afterwards by the Minister.

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