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

First of all, let me correct Deputy Coppinger. It would be illegal for me to read the transcripts of the O'Higgins commission. They are meant to be under lock and key for 30 years except that GSOC went to court a few weeks ago to have access to them because I had asked GSOC to investigate and the court decided it could access those records. Just be very clear, I would have no right to read the transcripts of the O'Higgins commission and I have not read them.

The Minister, Deputy Zappone, on the morning she was meeting the McCabes, phoned me and said she was having a meeting with them that afternoon. I think I said to her, "complex situation" and "thank you for letting me know". That was what I said. I respected the integrity of the process in which she was involved with them. I was working on protected disclosures which I could not speak about anyway in any detail. I could not speak to anybody about them. I was drawing up the terms of reference for the commission, and I assumed the Minister would get on with whatever work she had to do with them. I probably assumed it was a personal matter that they wanted to talk to her about, and that if it was relevant it would emerge in any further discussion at a later point. The Minister, Deputy Zappone, has also made the point she had not finished her engagement with the McCabe family.

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