Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I will not get into a discussion on policy areas and why or how the DPP makes decisions. He is an independent office holder under the 1974 Act and it would be entirely wrong to discuss issues relating to his administration or staffing. He put forward a case where his present staff complement should be increased, especially in the policy unit.

Where a trial has taken place, it is not the director's practice to disclose the existence of material which was not put before a court of trial because it was inadmissible or not probative to the case. If the director were to do this, it would involve disclosing prejudicial material and would leave persons affected by disclosure with no effective means to combat any damage to their reputation.

The policy of not giving reasons in public for decisions not to prosecute is not just part of the 1974 Act, as I stated previously on Question Time, it predates the Prosecution of Offences Act and the establishment of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. A number of principles underpin this policy. As I stated in reply to Deputy Rabbitte, if reasons were given in one or more cases, it would be difficult to give them in all cases. Otherwise, wrong conclusions would be inevitably drawn in regard to those cases where the reasons are refused. If, on the other hand, reasons were given in all cases and those reasons were more than bland generalities, due consequences would be difficult or impossible to avoid. That is the reason, as the DPP has outlined.

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