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

The Attorney General is finishing out a number of cases which he had taken on prior to his appointment as Attorney General to this Government. That is not unprecedented. I understand it has happened in the past with former Attorneys General, that they are allowed to finish out cases that they were involved in prior to their appointment. It is something the party leaders and the Cabinet were aware of in a general sense at the time of his appointment, but obviously not the detail of any particular cases.

The ODCE is an office of my Department. Taking that into account, it would be most inappropriate for me to comment on any particular case. I appreciate that Deputy Shortall is not asking me to do so, but I wanted to put that on the record of the House.

The Deputy has asked a number of detailed questions, which are reasonable questions, about the Attorney General's legal practice, but they are not questions to which I have the answers. I am not accountable to the Dáil for such matters, but they are reasonable questions, and I will endeavour to see if we can find answers for the Deputy sooner rather than later.

See this speech in context