Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

As a Lucan-based representative I express my sympathy to Liam Lawlor's wife and his children on their sad loss. Mr. Lawlor was a very courteous and likeable person to me and other public representatives. I have often come across constituents on whose behalf he dealt with an issue and who found him very efficient. He had a reputation of being a hard worker in the constituency.

That said, following his death it is time for a substantial review and proper scrutiny of his political career, the good and the bad, because he was a major figure in politics over the past 30 years. As a local representative I crossed swords with him over the years or did not agree with decisions he took with regard to planning issues. It is important for the future of politics that we examine fully the background to those decisions.

The newspaper articles, particularly the one I saw first, disgusted me. I happened to be in Ballina on Sunday and saw the Sunday Independent, but similar stories were carried in other newspapers. The story reported distracted from what we need to do in terms of examining the political career of Liam Lawlor. I found the story offensive, even before we were made aware of the true facts, as did anyone I spoke to on the day. It was offensive, inappropriate and hurtful to the family and friends of Liam Lawlor. It was degrading to the dignity of those who died in the accident and to the survivor. I agree it hit a new low in terms of journalism standards in the country.

That type of story is not the norm in our media, which is one of the reasons the public was so outraged by it. We expect more from our newspapers. That said, this type of sensationalist journalism is becoming more of a feature of our media, something that needs to be addressed. I agree with calls for a press council. It is important that the Minister bring forward the legislation in this regard as soon as possible. The Minister is not seeking to bring forward legislation because of this story; it has been planned for some time. The Law Reform Commission produced a report on this issue many years ago. The Minister spoke about his plans in this House as recently as February 2005 but it is time for action. The Minister should publish the Bill now and engage in substantial consultation with all interested parties, including the media. The Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights could be used as the vehicle for this consultation.