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

We have indicated that the tribunal will be located in Smithfield. There were issues to discuss regarding legal representation, costs and so on. That is all sorted. I anticipate the commencement order being signed within the next fortnight. My officials will bring the commencement order for me to sign. It is normally the case that, once we appoint a chairperson, that chairperson organises the conduct of the tribunal and I do not see that changing in this instance. While parties will have entitlements to legal representation and so forth, it is a matter for the chair to organise how the tribunal is conducted and the nature of submissions made, whether written or oral. I do not want to go into the work of the chair of the tribunal. Once the Dáil approves the terms of reference and the Government appoints a chair, the tribunal will operate within the context of the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921 as a public inquiry under that Act. That is what the Women of Honour group and others sought because they wanted full transparency. The chair will operate within that Act. We are determined. As the Deputy has said, very serious issues were raised in the work of the independent review group, which was established after the revelations of the "Women of Honour" programme on RTÉ. That work took a year. The group made its conclusions, which were important in themselves, and that then led to the establishment of the tribunal.

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