Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The court will have established it. The second scenario is where a matter is before the courts. I ask Senators to accept the fact that where matters are before the courts they are sub judice. Senators might not like that on all occasions but I believe it is desirable. The third scenario is the one which Senator Norris uses as a blanket restriction on accountability for issues that may at some future date come before the courts. To that I merely say that these are issues that will be well known, and reiterate the fact that this is a standard provision which in the past does not appear to have resulted in any adverse consequences for debate. Correspondence may well have been exchanged and the issue may well have been the subject of some commentary in the media. I do not believe that any chair or CEO is going to use this section in an arbitrary way in order to restrict obligations on accountability.