Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)

The position being maintained by the Minister of State on our call for an independent inquiry into the seven named local authorities and County Waterford is completely untenable. What we have heard from her and others has no credibility and this is a very serious issue. Yesterday Judge Gerard Griffin sentenced former Fine Gael councillor, Fred Forsey, to six years following a guilty conviction on six counts of receiving corrupt payments. It is entirely in the public interest that people know exactly what happened in Waterford. How could members of Waterford County Council zone land while a Garda criminal investigation was in progress? The Minister of State is not serving the public interest with the course of action she is pursuing, particularly with regard to Waterford.

I remind the Minister and the Minister of State of Judge Griffin's comments. Yesterday, he stated Mr. Forsey gravely breached the trust of the electorate, the crime was in the upper to mid range of the scale and political corruption undermines the specific nature of society. He also stated it is very important that corruption should not be allowed into the fabric of society and that it causes inequality.

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