Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

For the record, there have been a number of occasions on which comments were made in the House by previous officeholders which seriously jeopardised, if not totally prevented, prosecutions that might otherwise have been undertaken. It is important that the Deputy acknowledge that there is an independent justice system, an independent Judiciary and an independent prosecution system.

With regard to what I said in opposition, because I am very clear about what I said in opposition, I said that the arrangements that were made would have to be renegotiated. I specifically set out how the promissory note and the other arrangements could be renegotiated. Unfortunately, once a guarantee is given by a sovereign, unless the sovereign totally defaults, there is no way of repudiating a guarantee.

See this speech in context