Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Rabbitte correctly pointed to what happened in that case and what the Sullivan report recommended. The relevant parties accept the CC case met the criteria of being an "important and sensitive" case — which are the words used in the protocols — such as to warrant reference to the Attorney General according to its office policy and protocols. It identified several milestones in the evolution of the case of which the Attorney General ought to have been informed. In reality, he was consulted only about the first, which was the nomination of counsel.

The report instances the various relevant procedures and protocols in force, the policies in operation to ensure staff were aware of the requirement and that the office co-ordination arrangements provided further mechanisms to assist in observance requirements. The report finds the reason the Attorney General was not notified or consulted was the result of administrative error.

The report goes on to outline in the 19 recommendations the various issues it is believed can tie down all of these. To answer Deputy Rabbitte's question, I understand all 19 recommendations are under way. As is pointed out in the report, work on some began immediately in July, some in August and some in October. I know other work is ongoing in IT.

The report found that in spite of the failure to inform the Attorney General of the progress of the case, the case was processed in an expeditious, timely and conscientious manner. It finds no conscious or deliberate decision was made to withhold notification. The difficulty is that so many cases happen at any one time. I read some of the background notes in preparation for these questions and saw that the number of cases involving challenges to the constitutionality of Acts of the Oireachtas or statutory instruments is 550. The Deputy will agree this is a very large number, even though they are grouped into certain areas.

It is important that every one of those files, not to mind the hundreds of others, is followed through. The State offices dealing with these issues have large staffs and systems. I am glad to see they co-ordinate their systems and do not follow a case only within the protocols of their own offices. That is a major issue. The Chief State Solicitor's office, the DPP and the Attorney General's office work jointly on these cases, perhaps with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

The procedures have been put in place and time will tell how effective they are. The offices have tried their utmost not only to nail down the difficulties of that particular case but to try to tie down the protocols. On a two-monthly basis they look back and co-ordinate their efforts across the main cases they deal with. I thought a small number of cases would be involved. However, as the Deputy can see from what I stated, a huge amount of cases are involved. At least they are grouped in areas and are not all over the place. The groups include the large number of nursing home cases and challenges to the Immigration Act regarding children born to immigrants. The majority fall within three different areas.

Protocols were put in place which it is believed will allow a proper handle to be kept on cases and to allow the relevant bodies to remain updated as these cases move through various systems and the courts.

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