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

There is a very easy answer to the Deputy's question. I met Maurice McCabe and his wife some time ago because I felt it was important to meet him and hear what he had to say given the various events that were happening at that time. He made a request to meet me so I met him. There is a reason I did not change the terms of reference. If I had come into the House and changed the terms of reference that Mr. Justice O'Neill had recommended, I would definitely have been open to criticism. I wanted to accept the terms of reference the judge had suggested. Why did I want to do that? It was because Mr. Justice O'Neill was the person who had direct access to the persons who had made the protected disclosures, including Sergeant Maurice McCabe and Superintendent Dave Taylor, the people the allegations had been made against, if one likes. The judge, having discussed the issues that were in the protected disclosures with all these people, suggested these terms of reference. I accepted fully that the judge had heard everything that needed to be heard because he had direct access to Sergeant Maurice McCabe. I, therefore, accepted the recommendations he made. I was not going to second guess what the judge had to say because he was the one with the direct access to the people who had made the protected disclosures.

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