An inquiry is to be held today by the Ceann Comhairle, Dr Rory O'Hanlon, into a claim that legislation to ease Ireland's extradition laws has been improperly placed before the Dáil.
The European Arrest Warrant Bill, 2003, sponsored by the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, is due to finish its final two stages - committee and report - in the Dáil this week.
However, Labour Party TD Mr Joe Costello has claimed that two conflicting versions of the legislation exist: "This is a case of virtually unprecedented incompetence," he said.
The Department published the original text of the legislation, which will make it easier to extradite people to other EU states, after a Cabinet decision in July.
However, it quickly realised that a 60-page EU directive which should have been included in the legislation had been omitted, and ordered the printing of a second version.
Normally legislation cannot be withdrawn from the Houses of the Oireachtas after it has been submitted to the Dáil's Bill Office, unless a motion is put before TDs and accepted by them.
Last night Mr Costello said he discovered last weekend that two versions of the legislation existed when he was preparing amendments to be tabled at the committee stage hearing.
"In almost 15 years in the Dáil and Seanad I have never come across a situation where two different versions of a Bill have been published," the Dublin Central TD said.
"The second stage of this Bill was passed on Friday. The question that now arises is, 'Which version of the Bill did deputies believe that they were debating and voting on?'"
The second version also includes an amendment that weakens the power of the Minister for Justice to demand undertakings from a country seeking the extradition of an Irish resident.
Rejecting the claim that the legislation had been improperly placed before the Oireachtas, the Department of Justice acknowledged that an error had been made during the original printing of the legislation.
"The Bill as originally printed was, in a formal sense, presented to Dáil Éireann but was not actually circulated to deputies," a departmental spokesman said.
"It was withdrawn by the Bills Office once the printing error was noticed and, in keeping with the procedures of the Bills Office, it was later re-presented with the erratum slip attached," he said.
The Minister, he said, was satisfied that there was "no need to consider withdrawing" the European Arrest Warrant Bill, because the Dáil's Bills Office was now working off the correct version.
The Ceann Comhairle is to make inquiries today.
