Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I do not intend to publish the interim Garda report which I received some weeks ago or the final results of the Garda investigation. However, I have undertaken to contact the Fullerton family's solicitors with a full response to their concerns, including action I deem appropriate or necessary by way of further investigation. I reject categorically suggestions, one of which was made in public, that I sought to misrepresent anybody in my reply to a debate on the Adjournment of the House on 13 April 2005. In that reply I first confirmed that the Garda authorities had interviewed the person characterised as a key witness by the Fullerton family solicitors, despite occasional claims to the contrary and, second, I informed the House that person could no longer stand over the statement he made to the Fullerton family's solicitors and, instead, had made a new statement to the Garda review team. A number of discrepancies were identified between the person's statement to the Fullerton family's solicitors and his responses to the Garda review team. In particular, the review team noted that in his original statement to the RUC on 30 May 1991, the person made no reference to the fact that he had a meeting with RUC and Garda officers. These are statements of fact, nothing more and nothing less.

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