Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I say for the third time that the Minister will speak on behalf of the Government and will give its collective position on this issue. He will not speak as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, but for the Government and he will outline the facts.

There is no Garda file, the Minister does not have the Garda file. The Deputy is under the same misapprehension as others, that the Minister acted on the Garda file and that he holds it. He does not hold the Garda file on it. He is dealing with the issue of public interest in the disclosure of criminal activity, in particular, where the disclosure is intended to protect the State's interest in maintaining the integrity of the passport system. He had information of a bogus and false passport application form. We cannot argue that people seeking to perpetrate a fraud on the State have a right.

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