The Attorney General, Mr Michael McDowell today poured scorn on the suggestion he failed to give good advice to the Government for the Dáil motion calling for Liam Lawlor's resignation.
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Fine Gael leader Mr Michael Noonan claimed today that Mr McDowell should have advised the Government that the debate should not have been conducted in Mr Lawlor’s absence which, he said, led to the embarrassment of having the High Court "dictate to the House on how the House should proceed".
"The Taoiseach must be embarrassed this morning to be forced by the courts to vindicate the rights of a member of this house. It was self-evident that Deputy Liam Lawlor would be accorded the right to attend here," he said.
Mr McDowell reacted with a lengthy statement this afternoon in which he claimed Mr Noonan had displayed "a fundamental failure to grasp the constitutional and legal realities of his subject."
"If as Deputy Noonan suggested earlier in the week, the Government were by Ministerial action to attempt to interfere with the Court’s punishment with a view to securing the attendance of Deputy Lawlor, a very serious issue would have arisen for the constitutional separation of powers," Mr McDowell said.
"The wholly distinct action taken by the High Court in temporarily releasing the Deputy Lawlor at his own request to attend today’s debate was a matter wholly within the discretion of the High Court," he added.
Mr McDowell also took issue with Mr Noonan over the charge the he was more preoccupied with his election ambitions than with advising the Government - he recently announced his intention to stand for the PDs at the next general election.
"I reject the somewhat waspish and misconceived suggestion by Deputy Noonan that I have in any sense mis-advised the Government on this issue," the Attorney General added.