Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I accept what the Minister said. One month is unnecessarily constrictive but whether one is talking about domestic politics or the North, issues can arise that are highly embarrassing, unhelpful and so on, which if suppressed and sat on indefinitely has a festering effect on public confidence. A great deal of caution has to be exercised. I accept that the exact timing of reports is a matter for the Government to judge but it would be a bad principle that reports should be sat upon indefinitely. There are times when the public and Government, and we can see this with some of the tribunals established in the security area, must face up to very unpleasant and unpalatable facts. In the last analysis, a democracy cannot shirk from that.