Seanad report: House leader Mary O'Rourke said she would be very pleased to liaise with gardaí on inquiries into the leaking of information in the possession of the Mahon tribunal.
Maurice Cummins (FG) said that Mrs O'Rourke had told the House on Wednesday that she did not think the leaks relating to the financial affairs of the Taoiseach had come from the Opposition parties or from the tribunal itself.
"She stated 'we must look nearer home on this matter'. Could I ask the leader to elaborate on that?" There was a Garda investigation into the leaking of such material, and correctly so.
"Could I ask that if she has additional information is she prepared to co-operate with that investigation?"
Mrs O'Rourke: "Always with the gardaí."
Responding formally to Mr Cummins, Mrs O'Rourke said she would be very pleased to liaise with the gardaí. "I always have done so. I would be in good standing, and would like to do so."
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The courts service hoped to be in a position to appoint, in the coming weeks, a person to provide family law reports, judgments, trends and other statistical information in a selected number of High, Circuit and District courts, the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Michael McDowell said.
He was responding to Mary Henry (Ind) who had asked for a progress report on the Minister's plans to change the in camera rule in family law cases to allow for general reporting of overall trends while continuing to respect the privacy of all those involved.
The Minister said that the Courts Service had invited proposals from suitable persons for the provision of this kind of information. His understanding was that the service was in contact with the preferred candidate.