Seanad report:Consideration should be given to having a procedure to review contentious decisions of the Director of Public Prosecutions not to lay charges against persons suspected of law-breaking, Joe O'Reilly (FG) said.
The withdrawal of a major charge against a man named Halvey had generated comment, he noted. The DPP had reasonably said he could not give details about how he arrived at decisions because of the danger that people involved would be judged in the court of public opinion, thereby putting them in a serious position.
Mr O'Reilly said he believed there was a case to be made for having a commission of three eminent legal persons to arbitrate and examine the DPP's decisions in rare instances where they became matters of dispute. This would require legislation, and he hoped the Minister for Justice would give his suggestion appropriate consideration. Mr O'Reilly stressed that he was not making an explicit or an implicit criticism of the DPP, whom he believed was above reproach.
A Fine Gael member accused Seanad leader Donie Cassidy of striking a new blow by stating than an IRA ceasefire had not broken down when Fianna Fáil was in office.
John Paul Phelan made the comment when Mr Cassidy was defending the record of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. Mr Cassidy accused Fine Gael justice spokesman Eugene Regan of indulging in continuous bashing of the Taoiseach. Highlighting Mr Ahern's role in the peace process, Mr Cassidy said: "When Fianna Fáil and Bertie Ahern took over office the ceasefire returned within three weeks".
Mr Regan said it was not right to appropriate the credit for the peace process to one man and to imply that this was an excuse for the Taoiseach not upholding the rule of law in this country.