Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There has been a clear abuse of parliamentary privilege. Those who remain without a voice, namely, the families of the victims, have an expectation that those elected to any parliament will respect the rule of law. In response to concerns raised by the Pat Finucane Centre on behalf of the families, the Speaker's office confirmed that the House of Commons had a long-standing resolution that references should not be made in debates to cases which were active in the courts. Does the Minister share my deep concerns about the underhand and devious attempts to undermine the rule of law and the independence of the prosecution service using the cover of parliamentary privilege? The concern is that this will prejudice the trial process. Does the Minister believe this is a crude attempt to try to collapse the trial process? I am sure he is aware that this is the first of many similar cases. The two cases involved go back 43 and 45 years, respectively. Those involved have been waiting a long time for justice and should not have to deal with comments made in the House of Commons and the British tabloid media.

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