Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is deplorable that it has taken the Minister six weeks to give a response in this House to queries regarding the Supreme Court ruling. The argument that she has responded in the Seanad is interesting given her party's commitment to abolish that House. It is only now, six weeks after the ruling, that we in this House are being given an opportunity to obtain some measure of feedback on this very serious issue. The court issued a declaration that the respondent, that is, the Government, had acted wrongfully in expending or arranging to expend public moneys on a website, booklet and advertisements for the purposes of promoting a particular result in the referendum on the 31st amendment to the Constitution. The Chief Justice, Mrs. Justice Denham, and her fellow judges found that on applying the correct test to the material published by the Minister, there was a "clear disregard" by the respondents of the McKenna principles. The Chief Justice found, moreover, that the material "failed the test of being fair, equal and impartial, failed to be neutral, and failed to hold the scale equally between both sides". This is a damning indictment by the most senior judicial figure in the land of the Government's role in the referendum.

I have several relevant and direct questions which I hope the Minister will answer in a similarly direct fashion. Who took the decision to publish the booklet? Who took the decision to hive off the €1.1 million that should have been allocated to the independent referendum commission? Who signed off on the content of the booklet? Shortly after the Supreme Court decision, there was an effort by certain Ministers to dump the responsibility on the Attorney General, but the Supreme Court judgment does not reflect that claim. What are the cost implications for the State, apart from the direct expenditure of €1.1 million, of all of this? Finally, who will take responsibility and be held accountable for this deplorable situation?

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