Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Whatever changes I eventually settle on, I will put them into committee where we can tease through the type of issue Deputy Murphy raises. I do not know of any legal prohibition to provide for the circumstances the Deputy describes. One could easily see the case for the defence in this matter, namely, that the person being referred to took offence and sought an apology. As I understand it, as soon as litigation was contemplated, the individual in question resigned his position. In fairness, it is important to say this.

Whether there should be a legal obligation to provide for circumstances of this nature is a matter on which I have an open mind. To the best of my knowledge, there is no such legal obligation and the normal code of conduct as it relates to conflict of interest would apply.

See this speech in context