Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I did not do the hard left trick of repeating comments without attributing them, allowing the Deputy who made them to disagree with them and then pointing out to him that he made them. In 1997, Deputy Gilmore made a point that is relevant to today's debate on what we should do in the current circumstances. He stated that if we are to lift the suspicions, serve the people properly and let the tribunal get on with its job and come to conclusions as expeditiously as possible, it is important that we get on with our job and allow the tribunal to get on with its job. We have a continuous effort to bring its work into the House for predictable, party political purposes under the guise of statesmanship and standards and all the old guff that emanates from that side of the House and is part of its tradition.

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