Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

This motion is a response to an orchestrated and sustained attack on the tribunal by Fianna Fáil Cabinet Ministers and some Ministers of State over the past six months. A number of Ministers set out to undermine, intimidate and discredit the workings of the tribunal. I have been in this House for approximately 21 years and I have never before seen this precedent set by Ministers. I wonder why. This is a clear and simple motion that supports the view that the tribunal is working independently without bias and within the remit contained in the terms of reference set by the Oireachtas. Fianna Fáil Ministers have filled the airways with accusations that the tribunal is operating outside this remit and is biased. If they maintain this view they should place it on record in this House, which they have not done. They have attacked the tribunal for the past six months and they attack Fine Gael for proposing this motion. The choreography of what happened in the House before and since is well-directed by the press offices of the Government or Fine Gael — or rather, Fianna Fáil.

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