Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I will clarify a number of points. At the time the Department did communicate to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform the Vatican's position that it wanted to deal with the queries from the commission via diplomatic channels. The message was conveyed to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform which, in turn, conveyed it to the commission of inquiry. It was the commission that decided it did not wish to pursue its inquiries through diplomatic channels. That is my understanding of what happened, and it was documented along the way. Therefore, the reason I put on record the previous instances in which diplomatic channels were used, as did the Deputy when he mentioned the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, was to demonstrate that they can be used without undermining the independence of such inquiries.

It would not have been for the Department of Foreign Affairs at that time to get involved in terms of actively pursuing the issue as a protagonist, because that could have undermined the independence of the commission, which it is, correctly, anxious to preserve. The point I made at the meeting was that if the material was there it could surely be collected and made available. I did not have any difficulty with this being done through diplomatic channels. However, the questions need to be answered and it is desirable that the information required be in the hands of the commission. Given the use of diplomatic channels by independent statutory bodies such as tribunals in the past, it seems there is a ready-made medium for delivery of such material that would not in any way undermine the independence of the inquiry.

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