Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday's Irish Independentraised significant new questions regarding the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, ODCE and its handling of the controversial Seán FitzPatrick trial, which was the longest-running criminal trial in the history of the State. The public's reaction to the case was one of feeling utterly let down. People read what happened in court - rightly or wrongly - as another example of people with friends in high places. They were left with a sense of punishment being only for the little people. In a week when public debate rages about the operation of the courts and the Judiciary, it must be said that cases such as the FitzPatrick one have a significant impact on public confidence in the system as a whole.

I want to raise with the Taoiseach what appears to be a significant conflict in the information provided to me and the Irish Independentby the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation recently compared with information provided to my party colleague, Deputy Shortall, in November 2015. Yesterday's revelations in the Irish Independent seem to suggest that the ODCE effectively misled the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Government regarding its ability to effectively investigate the FitzPatrick case and provide the Director of Public Prosecutions with the evidence required to prosecute. On 31 May this year, I received a reply from the then Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation which assured me that in 2011, the Secretaries General of two Departments, namely, Justice and Equality and Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, had met ODCE officials and offered extra resources, if needed, for the investigation. The reply went on to say that the ODCE had claimed that it had no need for any extra resources. The reply clearly says that it was emphasised at the meeting that any request for resources would be responded to positively. The reply confirms that the ODCE stressed that it was satisfied with the resources available to it. However, in a reply to my colleague, Deputy Shortall, in November 2015, it was claimed that the ODCE had flagged the need for further resources within its office. Subsequent replies relating to that question indicate that there was a significant delay in meeting those resource requests. That is obviously a significant issue in its own right. The Irish Independentclaims that the emails sent internally from Mr. O'Connell in 2011 about concerns regarding the lack of resources within the ODCE to pursue the FitzPatrick investigation were only forwarded to the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation within the last few weeks. We need to know if that is true. We know that during the course of investigation, Mr. O'Connell shredded key documents and engaged in coaching witnesses. Ultimately, this and other issues led to the controversial collapse of the case.

I ask the Taoiseach to explain the conflict between the reply from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to me in May of this year and the same Department's reply to my party colleague, Deputy Shortall, in November 2015. Does the Taoiseach worry that the ODCE may have concealed vital information from the outset regarding its ability to pursue the FitzPatrick investigation? Does the Taoiseach believe that the Government was misled by the ODCE?

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