Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I wish it to be clear that in December or during the late autumn of that year, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, at that stage requested the chairman of the Bar Council to nominate a senior barrister who would have access to all the papers — some of which I had not seen — and who would make a report to him on the appropriate course of conduct. That report was received in January 2002. On foot of the report and on seeing the material Mr. Shane Murphy had exposed, the Minister and I immediately agreed there was an unanswerable case for an immediate tribunal of inquiry and that we would amend the law to facilitate the holding of a tribunal of inquiry by having private sessions where necessary to protect pending criminal litigation and that we would do so in those circumstances as quickly as possible. Legislation was pushed through this House in rapid order——

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