Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Acting Chairman for his indulgence in accommodating me. I wish to give the House a brief explanation in response to the unfounded allegations made against me in recent days. On 21 December, a defamation action taken against me by a Sinn Féin councillor in Limerick city, Maurice Quinlivan, was mutually agreed and settled in the High Court. The case followed from remarks I had made in an interview with a journalist from a local newspaper, the Limerick Chronicle.

There has been much ill informed, unfounded and mischievous comment about this matter in recent days. What has appeared has been comment masquerading as fact. I am giving this personal explanation to the Dáil to place the facts on the record. As part of the settlement agreed and put before the High Court on 21 December a statement was read in court which contained the following paragraph: "It is not suggested by Mr Quinlivan that Mr O'Dea acted other than innocently in making such denial and he accepts that there was no intention to mislead on the part of Mr O'Dea."

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