Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the appointment of the retired High Court judge and I wish him well in his pursuit of clarity and truth. I was most disappointed to hear some of the comments from the Opposition benches with regard to the appointment of a member of the Judiciary to deal with the issue. I hope the record of the House does not include all of the comments from the other side when people made outrageous remarks about judges, members of the Judiciary and the manner in which the inquiry will be treated. They know what comments they made and they are a disgrace to this House and to politics. The comments were unwarranted, unfair and proof - if it were needed - that the issue has become a political football. There has been much talk about the terms of reference within which the member of the Judiciary will pursue clarity and truth.

I agree the terms of reference must be real and meaningful and no self-respecting member of the Judiciary would embark upon a process that will be restricted or unable to deal with the task at hand. That is why I have every confidence in the terms of reference. It has been suggested that the Minister for Justice and Equality should step aside and not be involved in the setting of the terms of reference. The terms of reference of any judicial inquiry have been formulated primarily by the Attorney General, advising the Government and dealing with the technical issues in close consultation with the Minister for Justice and Equality and, in this case, other members of the Cabinet. The suggestion that an outside body will set the terms of reference is entirely inappropriate and unprecedented.

That said, the judge needs to have sufficient power to be able to get to the root of the real issue and provide clarity. I have no doubt that this inquiry can be thorough, speedy, cost-effective and that the results will be published. There has been criticism that in some way these results will be kept secret but they will be debated in this House in an open and transparent way. Let the process take its course.

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