Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

At the time she had all the material which he, then a Member of Dáil Éireann, is now asking me to start investigating. Nothing new has come to light. It is somewhat strange that I am now being asked to do something which, when much fresher and closer to the event, was manifestly not done by the Senator's party when it had the opportunity to do so. Why? No satisfactory explanation has been offered to me as to why nothing was done. If it is now so egregious and so manifestly requisite of me that I should conduct an inquiry of some sort, why was it not done by the Senator's party colleague when both were Members of Dáil Éireann and she had direct ministerial responsibility for the issue?

It is notable that no such inquiry was held at the time and the matter appears not to have been progressed. While I am not saying anything critical of one of my ministerial predecessors, Mrs. Nora Owen, I will not be judged by a different standard or have the innuendo made that I am failing in my duty when no criticism was made of the former Minister, whose name the Senator did not even mention. This is startling, to put it mildly.