Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail)

Of course there is the issue of cost. On the other hand, the committees of inquiry have done a good job. The Minister was unfair when he talked about Father X or Brother Y. That only happened in certain specific cases where criminal trials were pending. Many priests were named, particularly in the Dublin report. Many of the priests referred to in the Cloyne report had not been brought to court and could not be named for that reason. We had a commission of inquiry on the banking crisis by a foreign individual, but the Government parties were not satisfied with his conclusions. They were not happy, politically, with what he said in his report. The reply from the Minister for Finance, as outlined by Deputy Howlin, was that we would have to reverse the Abbeylara judgment and have another inquiry, presumably in order to get the right political answer. That is what concerns us, in general. I also cite the example of the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly. He could not provide one inquiry so he offered an Abbeylara inquiry. This devalues the currency of an inquiry.

There have been few tribunals since the legislation was passed. I believe the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence)(Amendment) Act 1921 was the last passed by the Westminster Parliament to apply to Ireland. I suppose it is good to be moving away from our former masters. There have been very few commissions of inquiry. We must ensure the matters dealt with by the new system are so important that they are also a rarity. Fair procedures is part of that. It is wrong of Senator Sheahan to accuse Senator Mullen of trying to protect people by looking for fair procedures. Of course he is trying to protect people. If Senator Sheahan was before an inquiry I am sure he would like to know that correct procedures were followed. We are trying to get things right.

The Minister has struck the right balance between the public interest and the Constitution. I do not have a copy of the Constitution before me-----