Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not think that quite answered the question. I was looking for a fairly direct statement on whether the Minister believed the criticism was warranted. He can answer that question along with this one.

I will briefly outline a dateline for how the particular e-mail came to public attention. The Department located it on 9 November. On 13 November the Minister was notified by the Secretary General. On 14 November the Taoiseach told the Dáil that the then Tánaiste had no prior knowledge of the legal strategy detailed in the e-mail. On 16 November the then Tánaiste was informed of it - the Taoiseach was still not informed. On 20 November the media broke the story and the Taoiseach finally had sight of the e-mail. On 21 November he corrected the Dáil record. I understand it was on that evening that the documents were sent to the Charleton tribunal.

Whatever about their being missed during the processes, there are many questions. Why did it take seven or eight days from the time the Minister was informed for the Charleton tribunal to receive the documents, which was 11 days after the Department had found them? Why did it take four days from the time the e-mails were found for the Minister to be informed? Obviously, the withholding of information which the Minister has essentially acknowledged in all but word is a criminal issue; it is very serious. How can it be explained that they were kept from the Minister and the Taoiseach for so long?

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