Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The Taoiseach might answer whether the Minister, Deputy Hogan, saw a draft of the unpublished Moriarty report before he made his statement. The statement is very clear. It was made on 6 February last. It said that the Mahon and Moriarty tribunals would be given a strict deadline to issue their final reports within months of the new Government coming into office. It said that both public inquiries would be allowed a small window in which to conclude their current work. It said that the incoming Government would have the power to rewrite the terms of reference of each tribunal and to place a deadline for the completion of their reports if the tribunals failed to demonstrate a willingness to complete them. It was a clear and specific statement. It referred to a new plan to be unveiled by Fine Gael. It was a clear statement by a senior member of the Fine Gael Front Bench of the time. It was almost menacing and threatening in its tone and tenor and in the way in which it was written. Did the Minister, Deputy Hogan, have sight of the unpublished draft of the Moriarty report prior to issuing that statement on behalf of Fine Gael? Has the Taoiseach had any conversations with Members or with the Minister, Deputy Hogan, on the Moriarty report since it was published?

See this speech in context