Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Members for their contributions. In response to Deputy Catherine Connolly, of course, I fully stand over the Minister for Finance's contribution in which he Minister addressed a number of the issues dealt with in the report of the Committee of Public Accounts, including, for example, the criticisms made of NAMA and the commission of investigation. I will come back to that issue. The Minister has a right to defend his good name and, of course, he does. The report was selectively leaked by someone to the media. It seems from the type and manner of that leaking that it was done to damage the Minister's reputation. He has a right to defend himself against it. He was not afforded due process in the way the Committee of Public Accounts conducted its business. As the committee has special powers and responsibilities in the Oireachtas, it also has a responsibility to its witnesses to follow due process. That responsibility was not met in this regard. Deputy Marc MacSharry alluded to that point. He also talked about the meetings looking bad. He said they had looked grubby and that that had been the perception. Of course, everything around the meeting was published. The very fact that there was a perception or a misperception about what the meeting had been about or what might have gone on is exactly why the Minister should have been afforded the ability and an opportunity to respond to questions at the committee, as appropriate. He was not afforded that responsibility.

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