Rónán Mullen (Independent)

Yesterday I asked that the Minister, Deputy Alan Shatter, would come to the House and state whether the Bar Council had been warned that it would be to its disadvantage in the context of its lobbying on the Legal Services Regulation Bill were it to oppose the proposal to give new powers to Oireachtas committees of inquiry. I have received a courteous letter from the Minister, Deputy Alan Shatter, and I am grateful to him for acknowledging that I set about addressing issues with honesty. He assures me, and I am happy to accept his assurance, that at no stage did he warn the Bar Council or any member of it, either expressly or implicitly, against voicing opposition to this referendum.

However, I was hoping to raise the issue again because I am in a position to put the question more forensically today and I believe I ought to because it is a question on which we must hear from the Minister, Deputy Shatter, not in his personal capacity, but in his capacity as the responsible Minister. Senator Bacik may be interested in this point as well. Was it the Minister, Deputy Pat Rabbitte, or some other Labour Party Minister who warned the Bar Council or members of the Bar Council that it would go to their disadvantage and that Labour Ministers-----