Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. I shall be brief. She already has plenty of questions to answer and I shall add a few more. I have huge admiration for the work that the Minister is doing at the moment and I think I speak for a lot of people when I say so.

My first question is difficult but I must be direct. How can the Minister have confidence in a Taoiseach who, by his own admission, invented a conversation with her that never took place? It is a pretty fundamental issue. By his own admission, he invented a conversation that never happened in terms of a matter as important as this.

As the Minister will know, there is a fair degree of speculation about when the Taoiseach first heard about the false allegations against Sergeant Maurice McCabe. The Taoiseach has changed his story repeatedly. Last night, having admitted the conversation that he made up was made up he replied to my colleague, Deputy Maurice Quinlivan, that the first time he heard about the allegations was when he watched the "Prime Time" programme on Thursday night. We know that is not the case. We know that is not true. Does the Minister believe the Taoiseach when he says to her that the first time he was aware of these allegations was his conversation with her? That is what he has now implied. I ask because I do not believe what he says is credible. Many people knew about the allegations and they have swirled around here for years. I cannot believe that what the Taoiseach says is credible given the statements made by others, including Deputy John McGuinness. I would like an honest and direct answer to the following from the Minister. Does she believe the Taoiseach when he says that the first time he ever heard of these false allegations against Maurice McCabe was when he spoke to her?