Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. It is welcome that the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Charles Flanagan, will be coming before the Dáil to issue a statement. The external inquiry on which the Taoiseach and I agreed into why the documents that have now emerged were never sent to the Charleton inquiry has to happen. We must also ensure the external oversight group on which we agreed which is to set about changing, rapidly and urgently, management structures within the Department of Justice and Equality will happen very quickly. These are two key issues that go to the heart of democratic accountability and on which the Taoiseach and I are in agreement. We also agreed that where Deputies had relevant questions or concerns about this entire issue which they wished to put via parliamentary questions, that this facility would be made available to them by the Minister and the Government to make sure any outstanding issue would be dealt with quickly. In addition, as I said, we need to look at the structures and the quality of the engagement between Parliament and the Government in terms of parliamentary questions and replies.

The Taoiseach and I agreed on Friday, when we met for the first time to discuss this matter, that neither of us wanted to have a general election. We both worked genuinely to avoid that reality, notwithstanding the very different positions we had on this issue. Our positions on Brexit have always been aligned in terms of the national interest. That will continue and we will continue to facilitate the workings of government in the coming months and beyond in line with the confidence and supply agreement to ensure the country will have the necessary stability to meet the very fundamental challenges that are facing the nation.

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