Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

When will the Spent Convictions Bill be brought back to the House? That would deal with part of the problem we have here.

Does the Taoiseach not agree that it is entirely misleading to seek to give the impression that the report of the Committee of Public Accounts somehow vindicated the deal made with the religious institutions? It did not do anything of the kind; in fact, it found to the contrary. However, it also found it could not do anything about it because it was probable that the deal could not legally be undone. Evidence was taken from the then Secretary General and Accounting Officer and from the two nuns who did a much better job of preserving their interests than the former Minister, Deputy Michael Woods, did for those of the taxpayer. It is wrong-----

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