Dáil debates

Wednesday, 20 January 2010

11:00 am

Photo of Brian CowenBrian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

If we are interested in the findings and getting to the facts, causes and background of the situation we are in, let us deal with the process, which has been tried and tested and has proved its credibility to the public as a means of dealing with the matter. We should do the job that is necessary and provide the expertise that is required, given the complexity of the issues with which we are dealing. We should make sure we deal with all aspects of the matter and then come to this House on the basis of assembling those facts and decide what it is we want to do at that stage. That is a matter for the Oireachtas to decide, but it is also clear from the Supreme Court and elsewhere that the question of using Oireachtas committees for the purpose of bringing forward facts, which are controverted, is not a means by which we can operate in a way that will have full constitutional protection. What we are better off doing is getting on with what we have achieved and what has been proven to work. We should make that happen and then the Oireachtas can deal with it. At every stage of the process we have ensured there will be an Oireachtas involvement.

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