Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

The Minister is always right. We are not all knee-high to him. What does this say about the Minister's integrity on this vital matter?

The Minister also said on the RTE "Six One News" that the DPP had carriage of defence on this case in the Supreme Court. This morning in the other House the Tánaiste revealed that the carriage of this case was jointly by the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Minister also stated that the first he and his officials knew about the challenge was when they read it in the newspapers. Can we really believe that? The Tánaiste said this morning that in November and December 2002 the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform was informed by the State solicitor's office that this action was being taken. What is going on? Who is telling the truth? Was the Tánaiste telling the truth this morning or is the Minister telling the truth now?

The Minister's arrogance and his incompetence on this issue are a new low for this Government. His competence and integrity are now in doubt. He urgently needs to answer the questions I have posed to retain any semblance of integrity on this matter.

It would be remiss of me if I did not refer to the victims and their families. The mother of the young girl whose rapist was released by the High Court yesterday outlined on the "The Gerry Ryan Show" the potential consequences for this family and the shocking effects on her daughter. The potential release of six more offenders is likely to have similarly traumatic consequences for the other families.

Unfortunately, the Government clearly believes that political accountability by Ministers for their actions or their failures is a principle that should apply to other Administrations rather than this one. The Minister said that we would be in a position soon to scrutinise the legislative response to this grave situation. I hope he will tell us when this will response will come.