Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl has issued a personal apology to former Rehab chief executive Angela Kerins for the manner in which she was treated by the Public Accounts (PAC) committee during an appearance before it in 2014.

A judgment delivered last month by the Supreme Court which found PAC acted unlawfully as a whole in its treatment of Ms Kerins when she appeared before two hearings of the committee in 2014.

“The Kerins judgment was a watershed for us here in the Dáil,” Mr Ó Fearghaíl said on the Week in Politics. “There has been much commentary outside about the chilling impact that the Kerins judgment might have on the Oireachtas.”

“The only thing that I feel is chilling is that the Supreme Court found that a committee in the last Dáil had effectively broken the law, had trampled on the rights of Ms Kerins. That to me is chilling.

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“I would personally apologise to Ms Kerins for the fact that that happened, and [it is]our absolute determination is to make sure that in what remains of the 32nd Dáil and in future that type of situation will not happen again.”