Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

The issue is not whether Mr. Connolly did or did not do what the Minister claimed. The fact is that the Minister cannot prove it. The reality is that he has set out to destroy the Centre for Public Inquiry because the Government does not want it investigating issues that have embarrassed it, such as the case of the Shell pipeline, or does not want to risk embarrassing the Minister in the case of the massive funds given by him to purchase Thornton Hall. Is he afraid that the centre might go on to investigate why the Government has given the natural gas and oil fields off the west coast to multinational corporations for not a penny in royalties?

If the Minister claims that millions of euro as a result of cocaine trafficking were to be imported into this country for political reasons, that is a devastating charge. Where is the evidence? Why does the Minister not prove his case? If he claims to be concerned about this, he should put the evidence in front of the people, prove the charge and then we can take it seriously.

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