Seanad debates
Thursday, 15 May 2003
Adjournment Matter. - Morris Tribunal.
Equity requires that all parties to the tribunal be treated equally. What I give to Superintendent Lennon I should be willing to give to Mr. McBrearty and vice versa. I will not distinguish between them on the basis that the Senator, one of the co-sponsors as a Member of the Oireachtas of the tribunal, has arrived at the view that one is more innocent than the other or that one is more hard done by than the other. The tribunal must establish where the truth lies. To cover in advance the reasonable legal costs of all parties would be to pre-empt the power of the tribunal not to award costs to those who do not co-operate and undermine its greatest power in its search for the truth. The truth, after all, is what the tribunal is about. Counsel for the tribunal has already made it clear that establishing the truth in the Donegal affair will be of particular difficulty. I will not support any proposal that may hinder the tribunal in carrying out the tasks assigned to it by both Houses of the Oireachtas.
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