Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am not asking the Minister about the ODCE; I am asking her if there is anything in the original report dealing with how the gardaí and the DPP behaved. Will she explain how the DPP decided to pursue a second trial, following the collapse of the first trial? The DPP was aware of the shortcomings in the investigation as far back as 2010. It should not have even allowed the case to go before Judge Mary Ellen Ring, but allowing it to progress a second time was unforgivable. How much money was paid to barristers during the second trial? Was it multiples of millions of euro? The Minister has called it the most expensive trial in the history of the State.

Will she address any of these questions in respect of the DPP? Similar to the Garda, the DPP does not suffer from a lack of funding. It seems, however, that the ODCE, and its lack of funding, has been the scapegoat for the collapse of the Fitzpatrick trial. The DPP and the Garda Síochána, however, as far as I can see, have questions to answer, and perhaps the answers are in the original report. Either way, I cannot believe it. The Fine Gael party used to say that it was the party of law and order. Now, it is more like the see no evil, hear no evil school of politics.

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