Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have already made the point but it bears repeating that in my and the Government's approach to this, and on taking legal advice on it, I have had to consider our general constitutional obligations to protect the good names and reputations of persons who may be the subject of untested allegations. Allegations have been made in the recent past in this House which on detailed examination by appropriate parties were found not to be correct. That happened very recently. We owe it to people to follow the correct procedures to have the right standards, the right approach when we are dealing with an issue such as this. It is an obligation. All of us would want to have our good names and reputations protected. We would not want people rushing to judgment and by taking certain actions we could be undermining that. That is why I am making the point that these are not circumstances where there is prima facieevidence of wrongdoing. These allegations are seriously contested by those against whom they are made. The judge who has examined this for us, Mr. Justice O'Neill, has spoken to all the main players involved and examined the protected disclosures, which nobody else in this House has had the opportunity to see because they are protected. He has said that the way to deal with this is to have a full commission of inquiry. The Commissioner and indeed the other parties have made clear that they will co-operate fully. We should await the outcome of the commission of inquiry.

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