Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I am making a different point and if the Deputy cannot understand it, it is a reflection on his capacity to discharge his functions as a leader of a party. My point is different. It is not that every Minister for Justice must regard every fax and every letter as the reason to suddenly cause a massive inquiry into the Garda Síochána or that any Minister for Justice could sort through the hundreds of letters they receive every week and say, "There is a scandal I must stop immediately." That is an unfair standard to ask of the former Ministers for Justice, Nora Owen and Deputy O'Donoghue, or Deputy Michael McDowell.

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