Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The import of sending the civil servant out was clear. The next thing was that we will not discuss anything to do with whistleblowers or penalty points but we will discuss something else, something new, a specific case, important as it is, but it was not new at all. The Attorney General knew it and it is important that the Taoiseach confirms that he rang the Attorney General. The Attorney General did not come running to him breathlessly with this news on Sunday. Forgive me for getting that impression from the briefing yesterday, I might have been wrong. The Taoiseach made a phone call to the Attorney General and as another issue she raised this. It is an important issue but she could have raised it with the Taoiseach last week, two weeks ago or a month ago but for some reason she did not. I asked the Taoiseach one question, which he did not answer - why did she not raise it with the Minister for Justice and Equality because the proceedings are against the State, which normally includes the Attorney General, the Minister for Justice and Equality and so on because it relates to gardaí and so on? Why did she not do that? Does she talk to the Minister for Justice and Equality? Does it not seem somewhat dysfunctional to the Taoiseach that a conversation would not have occurred between the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Attorney General similar to the one that occurred between the Taoiseach and the Attorney General on Sunday?

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