Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

The Taoiseach will recall that the Sullivan report arose from a situation that developed when the Government had not been advised that a constitutional challenge had been taken by somebody who was convicted of child rape and was then released from prison. That is my recall of the context in which it arose - the Government had not been informed of the constitutional challenge to the statutory rape law and the self-confessed child rapist was released from prison. In the context of the Sullivan report, which was published in 2006, can the Taoiseach give us any sense of certainty that we will not face a similar situation again? Can he, in whatever response he may have had prepared for this sequence of questions, give the House any assurance that we are not likely to see a recurrence of the situation that pertained to the Sullivan report in 2006?

In regard to the centrality of the Office of the Attorney General to the Sullivan report and all that maintained leading up to it, does the Taoiseach accept there would be greater confidence in that office if there were greater transparency and openness in regard to its role? Excepting the confidentiality relationship between the Attorney General and the Cabinet, does the Taoiseach agree there are matters on which the Attorney General advises that would allow for greater openness and contribute to a greater understanding in the first place, as well as a better acceptance of decision-making on the part of the Attorney General and the Government where confidentiality is not required? As an example, the Taoiseach was not overly pleased about my questions at the time but this might apply in regard to my queries on the advices the Attorney General had given vis-À-vis the HSE and the reports on the deaths of children in State care. That is just one example.

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