THE PD leader accused the Taoiseach of trying to distract the public.
Ms Mary Harney said Mr Bruton was accusing the Opposition of point-scoring, opportunism, playing party politics. These, were colourful terms, aimed at making little of serious political debate.
"I believe the accusations are wearing thin. There is no excuse whatever for what happened in this particular incidence. It is incompetence, insensitive, and it is wrong. And it is not good enough for the Taoiseach to constantly keep running away from his responsibility, running for cover."
"I must say, as I listened to the Taoiseach's speech this afternoon, I found it hard to believe it was the same person I worked so closely with in opposition."
It was hard to believe, she said, that the one-time champion of Dail reform was running for cover. And I would remind the Taoiseach of a former premier of Denmark who resigned in 1993 because he stood by his Minister for Justice.
Ms Harney said there was no more fundamental an error than the wrong composition of the Special Criminal Court. "The implications are serious. The prisoners in question are charged with very serious offences, some relating to the making, or possession of explosives, others relating to the investigation into the murder of Det Garda Jerry McCabe."
The possibility that any of those prisoners could walk free because of Government incompetence was, in itself, sufficient to demand ministerial accountability.
Ms Harney said the debate was not about the personal qualities, nor the personal integrity of the Minister for Justice. She was a woman of the highest integrity, affable and hardworking.
"The debate is about confidence in the Minister for Justice as the person who holds the most sensitive position in any government."
The first and primary duty of Government was to protect its citizens. "If people cannot have confidence in the Minister, who is in charge of that key ministry, then they cannot really have confidence that the Government is protecting them."
Ms Harney recalled that the Taoiseach had said when assuming office on December 15th last year: "The Government must go about its work without excess or extravagance, as transparently as, if it were working behind a pane of glass."
She said: "Can I say this to the Taoiseach? Behind that pane of glass now is a stone wall, one that has been built and fortified by the Tanaiste and Minister for Social Welfare and by yourself."
Accountability, said Ms Haney, was not a buzzword, and it went much further than transparency or openness. It was the cornerstone of our democracy.
Two years ago, when the last Government fell, the Tanaiste had said the key issue was accountability and the right of the public to secure adequate explanations.
On the role of the Attorney General, Ms Harney said it could not be said of him that he acted quickly. "Was he not concerned that Irish citizens were going to be tried before a court that was note properly constituted?"