Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The answer to the Deputy's first question is "No". Bills have been produced on time or very close to time, some of which have been quite extensive while others have been extremely complex. As I stated, the House owes great credit to the Attorney General and her staff for working weekend after weekend on Saturdays and Sundays to meet the conditions of timelined legislation that has been required by the EU-IMF-ECB memorandum of understanding. As I stated to Deputy Martin, while the production of legislation in each of the past three years averaged approximately 40 Bills, the requirement in this session because of the pressure is for 30 Bills. As we move through next year, it may become a little less intense in that quite a number of these legislative items will have gone through the Houses.

The Attorney General has not given me, nor have I asked for, her opinion on the Finucane case. The Government's position on this issue has been quite clear. Before the Deputy was elected to this House, the Dáil unanimously approved a motion tabled in my name for an inquiry to be held into the Finucane case. This arose from the clear statement of Judge Peter Cory in which he recommended, following an initial trawl of information about a number of cases, that inquiries should be held. This is the reason the Smithwick inquiry is under way and is the reason the Government will give approval to an extension to that inquiry at the request of Mr. Justice Smithwick. The Government is clear on this position. As the Deputy is aware, the Tánaiste met the Finucane family yesterday. I spoke to the Tánaiste before he travelled to Japan last weekend, I answered questions in the House on this issue and the Government is clear that it is not moving from the position the Dáil has adopted of a requirement for an inquiry in this regard. I do not need advice on this issue from the Attorney General. While I do on many other issues, I am very clear about that.

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