Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

It is admitted that the latter legislation is deeply flawed. I would like to ask the Taoiseach about the proposal to introduce a constitutional amendment and about the all-party committee that will examine these matters on the basis of terms of reference which are the subject of a large measure of agreement on all sides of the House. We do not understand how the issues of child rape and the protection of our children can be examined until it has been clearly and independently established what went wrong in the Office of the Attorney General, what went wrong between that office and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and what went wrong between that office and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. We do not know what went wrong in those instances. We had to take the unusual step last week of writing to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to seek to establish how many cases were struck out as a result of the Supreme Court decision.

If we are to deal seriously with these matters, which were of such gravity that they outraged the people and plunged the Government into disarray that it manifestly has not recovered from since, is it not important that there should be an independent investigation of such matters? I congratulate the Taoiseach on putting down the shortest lived rising since "Slattery's Mounted Fut".

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