Senior officials are likely to advise Ministers by tomorrow on the steps they can take to facilitate the Oireachtas Committee inquiring into the actions of individuals in the Sheedy case.
The Attorney General and the Minister for Justice were yesterday working on a reply to a letter from former Supreme Court judge Mr Hugh O'Flaherty. Mr O'Flaherty, former High Court judge Mr Cyril Kelly and former Dublin county registrar Mr Michael Quinlan have been invited to give evidence to the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality and Women's Rights on May 6th.
Officials from the office of the Attorney General and the Minister for Justice are considering Mr O'Flaherty's request for clarification on a number of issues. In particular, Mr O'Flaherty is believed to be concerned about whether witnesses at the Committee can be granted privilege.
"The Attorney General and the Minister for Justice are addressing the reply" to be given to Mr O'Flaherty's queries, The Taoiseach told the Dail yesterday.
According to Government sources, officials from both offices are also considering a number of constitutional issues which could impede the Committee's attempt to get at the truth. One issue, according to the sources, is whether a judge or judges who sat in the Sheedy case are allowed talk about the proceedings outside the court.
Talks between the Government and former High Court judge Mr Cyril Kelly on his pension arrangements broke down without agreement just hours before he resigned last week, according to Government sources.
Mr Kelly resigned on April 20th after intense late night and early morning talks failed to reach agreement. The details of the disagreement have not been revealed, but Mr Kelly's representatives had earlier sought a lump sum payment in addition to an annual pension, a proposal which was vigorously opposed by the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue.
Instead the Government has suggested an annual pension figure of £30,000 with no lump sum. The talks took place between Mr Frank Clarke SC on behalf of the Government and a team led by Mr Eoin McGonigal SC representing Mr Kelly.
The Taoiseach confirmed to the Dail yesterday that Mr Kelly had resigned as a judge without any agreement having been reached on his pension. Mr Ahern also made clear that the Government had no plans to ask the Dail to approve pension arrangements for the two judges and the senior court official who resigned as a result of the reports on the Sheedy case in the near future. The Government is understood to be waiting to see whether they will explain their actions in the case before it approves the pensions.
Asked whether the Government had decided whether the pensions needed to be approved by a Dail motion or by legislation Mr Ahern said that matter was "under consideration".
He said the Government had no indication from the three individuals as to whether they would accept invitations to give evidence on the matter to the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality and Women's Rights.
Meanwhile Fianna Fail senator Mr Don Lydon has confirmed he prepared two rather than one psychological reports on Philip Sheedy as reported last weekend. The two reports were dated December 12th, 1996 and April 29th, 1997. Both were available to Judge Joseph Mathews of the Circuit Court before he sentenced Sheedy.