Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Will the Leader arrange a debate with the Minister for Justice and Equality on the outcome of yesterday’s Supreme Court decision which was one of quite a number of high profile legal cases recently involving the State?

Lissadell House, a great national amenity and an important iconic attribute in the tourism infrastructure, has been closed in recent years because of the dispute between Sligo County Council and the Cassidy family. While one celebrates that finally this debacle has come to an end, it raises the general question as to how State agencies consider their responses to legal issues. Should there be a centralised unit, perhaps the Office of the Chief State Solicitor, the Office of the Attorney General or some other fora, which local authorities or other State agencies could consult for advice on how best to proceed in difficult circumstances in legal cases? It would seem ridiculous if all State agencies were to take the view that every possible legal case was to be rigorously defended and pursued.

It would beg the question why any barrister would advise any State entity that it had anything other than a solid case, for the sake of his or her own business? Yesterday we heard the trial may have cost up to €12 million, without prejudice to either side. One hopes the Cassidy family will return to Lissadell House, open it to the public and get a worthy return for their valued restoration and investment over the years. This is something we must examine.

I have just come from a meeting of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, which is rigorously defending a number of cases that have been taken against it for a variety of reasons. Do we approach this with a cost-benefit analysis and assess it in the same way as if the Leader and I were personally to assess whether we might go to court on an issue? I am not convinced that is the case. There is a need for the Minister for Justice and Equality to examine this issue and, perhaps, have a national resource to which all State entities can refer when considering their response to a legal case.

Equally important is the ongoing fallout from the Newbridge Credit Union and I ask the Leader to have the Minister for Finance come to this House specifically on this issue. He must ask how a reputable and eminent firm such as Ernst & Young can be in situfor two years yet late in the evening a court must be assembled and a credit union pushed into a failed bank. How is that in the best interests of a co-operative movement? While I appreciate the Central Bank does not act lightly, I do not believe it examined every possible outcome. There were suggestions about Naas Credit Union taking over, but were sufficient investigations done to find a solution within the Irish League of Credit Unions? It is far too easy for the Central Bank to amalgamate some of the banks. It regulates a couple of Irish banks and if it had its way it would probably regulate the credit union movement, which would undermine the community nature of this vitally important social financing outlet. It would be worthwhile to have the Minister here to debate this issue.