Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have not seen the report. It has not gone to Cabinet and has not been published yet. I understand parts of it may have appeared in a newspaper, but I do not know to what extent they are the truth or the full truth. The report has not gone to the Attorney General who has to consider whether it needs to be redacted because individuals are named in the report and they may need to have their good names protected. Once the Attorney General has dealt with the report, we will then publish it, if we are permitted to do so, with a response. At that point, it will be possible for the Tánaiste to answer the Deputy's questions in more detail.

What I can say is that the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, ODCE, has received additional resources in the past year, including several additional staff. Too often in this country, a lack of resources is used as an excuse for poor performance, which is why so often additional resources do not make any difference in terms of outcomes and performance. What I read in the newspapers is that documents were shredded that should not have been shredded and witnesses were coached who should not have been coached. I do not know how a lack of resources causes someone to shred a document he or she should not have or to find the time to coach a witness he or she should not have coached. The Government and Opposition must not allow people to hide behind the excuse of resources, which is not always the reason everything goes wrong. Often, it is not the reason at all.

As Taoiseach, I have expressed my view very clearly that I do not believe our capacity to respond to white-collar crime and corporate fraud is adequate. For this reason, I have asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Fitzgerald, and the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, to work together, with their Departments, to develop a package of measures to go to Cabinet by the end of September. This will enable us to strengthen and deepen our response to white-collar crime and corporate fraud. It is necessary and people demand it, and if we have any chance of restoring confidence in the State's ability to deal with such issues, we need to do exactly that.

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