Call for resignation from party leaders was unanimous

The Taoiseach called on Mr Liam Lawlor to resign from the Dáil. "We in this House must honour the trust of the people who elected us," said Mr Ahern. He added that as an elected member Mr Lawlor had a particular onus to uphold the law.

"The tribunals are established by the unanimous democratic will of all the elected representatives of the people. Their work represents the national will on an issue of the highest importance, namely the conduct of our public life." Opening the debate on the censure motion, Mr Ahern said that in the Republic nobody was above or below the law.

"There is no untouchable caste. Every citizen is accountable. When the citizen holds public office, there is an additional onus to lead by example. At a minimum, there is an onus not to bring the administration of public affairs into disrepute. Deputy Lawlor has failed to live up to the standard that might reasonably be expected of a Dáil deputy. He has failed repeatedly to meet that standard.

"We should be clear that Dáil Éireann is not a court. We cannot and should not sit in judgment. In this case, judgment has been made in the courts on three occasions. It is on foot of those judgments, and in the light of our political responsibility, that Dáil Éireann now draws its own conclusion and arrives at the view that Deputy Lawlor's position is now untenable."

The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, expressed sympathy with Mr Lawlor's wife and family. "In my view, they have been subjected to excessive and unfair media exposure during the course of the last year, and over the past two months in particular." She said the effectiveness of the tribunals had been damaged, and the costs of the taxpayer increased, not by the tribunals, but by the evasiveness and lack of co-operation that too many witnesses had shown.

"The public is rightly eager to hear the considered reports of the members of the tribunals at the appropriate time. It is, I believe deputies will agree, the public duty of those called to give evidence to the tribunals to co-operated fully and speedily so that the answers the public so clearly want and deserve can be given."

The Fine Gael leader, Mr Michael Noonan, said he deplored the behaviour of Mr Lawlor and its impact on the public perception of politics and on the State's political institutions. "It is my view that his membership of the Dáil has, for some time, been untenable and damaging to politics and that he should resign."

Mr Noonan said that part of the reason why the public was losing faith in the Flood tribunal was the long delays the tribunal experienced in getting to the core issues.

"These delays have been caused, to a very large extent, by the obstruction carried on by certain witnesses, and in particular by the obstruction of Deputy Liam Lawlor. He has played ducks and drakes with the tribunal and has brought about a situation where unwarranted delays have been caused."

The Labour leader, Mr Ruairí Quinn, said that in his time in the House he had never seen a motion calling on a colleague to voluntarily resign, signed by the leaders of all parties.

"Why is this necessary? It is because the courts of this land, which are separate and independent of this House, have deemed not once but on three occasions that a member of this House, who voted for or did not oppose the establishment of a tribunal of inquiry into the misconduct of affairs, apparently so, had declined or refused to give the level of co-operation that is expected of every citizen. That happened three times."

The leader of the Green Party, Mr Trevor Sargent, said the fact that no sanction existed to require Mr Lawlor to resign his Dáil seat was a matter of huge annoyance to many, including members of the House. "That lack of sanction must be addressed and debated. I propose the introduction, as a minimum sanction, of suspension without pay."

There were deeper concerns, he added. "How can a backbench TD, like Deputy Lawlor, contemplate the enormous legal costs which have already been incurred by his reckless challenges to the work of the tribunal and appeals to decisions of the courts? It is not unusual for a deputy to have employment outside Dáil Éireann even though it is not a good idea. However, Deputy Lawlor's money-making activities outside Leinster House are, as far as we can tell, quite extraordinary and require more rigorous investigation."

Mr Joe Higgins (Socialist Party, Dublin West) said he had been elected to Dublin County Council in 1991 and found it "to be an institution over-run with land speculators and their bagmen who carried on business with such gusto that it put the Dingle horse fair of my youth into the shade".