Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not expect that the inquiry will collapse. Mr. Justice Cregan has pointed out in his determination the reasons for saying to me formally in a letter that he is unable to continue processing the case given the circumstances that now apply, so how can we make adjustments, legislatively or in any other fashion, to allow him to continue to do that? From that point of view, Mr. Justice Cregan has requested that I wait until I receive the interim report. Obviously, he is working on that. In the meantime, the Office of the Attorney General is looking at a range of options that have been referred to in the determination of Mr. Justice Cregan in respect of both the special liquidator and the documentation received from the Department of Finance. As I said, in answer to an earlier question, I do not think anybody wants to go down the route of a tribunal of inquiry. We have had experience of inquiries lasting ten years and costing in excess of €100 million. The issue here, which Deputy Catherine Murphy rightly raised - it was in order for her to do so - is to find out in the public interest whether there was favouritism or whether any undue decision was taken, not in the public interest, in regard to any of these transactions to which a write-off in excess of €10 million applied. My understanding is that there are 37 cases involving 200,000 pages of documentation, and the intention of the Government in setting up the commission was to be able get to the bottom of that. If there is an issue that needs to be addressed in a fair and accountable fashion, then so be it; the commission of investigation should be able to do that. Mr. Justice Cregan has pointed out how, in his decision and his judgment, he is unable to go further. We as the Oireachtas have a duty, in the public interest and for public information, to deal with that issue. In order to be able to deal with it, I need to have Mr. Justice Cregan's interim report. He has requested we wait until we receive that report before proceeding. From my point of view, as the person whose Department sponsors this inquiry and from whose Vote it is paid, I assure the House that whatever it is that we have to do or whatever we can do in order to allow the inquiry to proceed will be done.

When we get the interim report, we will have it considered by the Cabinet and brought here.

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