Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes, the Minister will come before the Dáil, make a full statement and answer all questions in so far as she can at this point.

Two things are important in this instance. First, the ODCE is an entirely independent statutory authority. Therefore, it is not subject to Government direction. Second, the trial was under way. While concerns were being raised, it would not have been possible to interfere with a trial that was under way in the courts.

The comments made by Judge Aylmer speak for themselves. They are an indictment of the ODCE. The ODCE had some success in 2014 and 2016. In April of this year, a person was arrested and charged with fraudulent trading based on an invoice relating to a fraud and entered a plea of guilty.

I think that the ODCE looked for resources and expertise, in so far as I can understand this, and that those requests were granted. When the ODCE says that it was simply not equipped to undertake parallel investigations on the scale involved, one would have thought that there would have been a specific request for the capacity to take in necessary expertise or whatever, either through Government or from outside sources, to deal with parallel investigations. In any event, it was not possible for Government to intervene in any way in a pending court case and was not possible for Government to give directions to an independent statutory body.

Since the current director was appointed, quite a number of changes have taken place. That does not deal with the fact that this case has gone on for ten years and is one of the longest and most expensive in the history of the State. The taxpayer has to pick up the tab here because the person who was acquitted yesterday has already been declared bankrupt.

The Minister will come before the Dáil, make a statement, give a report and answer questions on this. She is to receive a full and detailed report from the Director of Corporate Enforcement-----

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