David Norris (Independent)

I wish to ask the Minister a question on what he has said. I have never heard it said that people have sought out newspapers and told reporters lies. Are there any proven instances of this? It would be fascinating if there were, and perhaps it is possible there have been such instances.

Returning to the matter of telephone calls by reporters, there is also a question of headlines carried by newspapers and information having been twisted. I have to use Senator Walsh in the hypothetical case I will cite, but I do not mean to sully his reputation. I believe he has a wife. I am not so provided and, therefore, I cannot put this hypothetical question in regard to myself. If a newspaper reporter telephoned Senator Walsh and asked him, "Did you beat your wife last night?" and he rightly said "No" and the newspaper then carried the headline "Walsh says he did not beat his wife", the implication would be that nobody would believe him because they would know perfectly well that he beat the daylights out of his wife. That is the type of circumstance I mean and perhaps such communication is a kind of consent. I am interested to know if there are cases of scams where people have lied to reporters to damage their reputation and have taken action on foot of that. I have never heard of it, but it might well be a lucrative additional source of income for Members of the House.