The Minister for Justice said yesterday that progress was being made in inquiries in the Sheedy case, and his Department had been in further correspondence with the Attorney General and court officials.
In a letter to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality and Women's Rights, Mr O'Donoghue said the inquiries were expected to be finalised soon.
The chairman of the committee, Mr Eoin Ryan TD (Fianna Fail), read out the letter. It was in response to him contacting the Department arising out of concerns by committee members that the Minister should make a statement to the committee on the case and not wait until the Dail resumed on April 20th.
The letter said: "I understand that your committee may be considering the circumstances surrounding a recent court case which was the subject of my statement to the Dail on April 1st, 1999.
"In that Dail statement I pointed out that I will not be in a position to make a definitive statement until such time as inquiries now under way have been completed. However, I would like to assure your committee that progress is being made in those inquiries.
"For my part, my Department has been in further correspondence with the Attorney General and court officials arising out of correspondence received on April 1st, i.e. on the day I made my preliminary statement to the Dail.
"These inquiries have not yet been concluded, and the expectation is that they will be finalised in the very near future."
Deputies at the meeting called for the Minister to make the report to the committee on the case in which Philip Sheedy was released after serving just one year of a four-year sentence for dangerous driving causing death.
Mr Ryan said the committee would meet at 11 a.m on Tuesday, before a scheduled meeting, to discuss progress in the case.
Mr Jim Higgins TD, the Fine Gael justice spokesman, said if the report of the inquiry by the Chief Justice was made before April 20th when the Dail resumed, the joint committee should require that it be forwarded to it.
Mr Brendan Howlin TD, the Labour justice spokesman, said it was a matter of extreme importance. The Minister had made a statement in the Dail on the day of the Easter recess and said it would be in the public domain as quickly as possible. This was unacceptable. It could not wait until the Dail was back.
He wanted to know what the situation was concerning the Chief Justice's inquiry. Was the Chief Justice's report concluded? Was the report available to the Minister or the Attorney General at this stage?
Mr Higgins said the Minister gave an assurance to the House that whatever action was required would be taken. He also wanted the transcript of the court case on November 12th, 1998, when three years of the sentence were suspended.
Mr Ryan said he agreed there were serious questions on the whole issue. The Minister had stated in the Dail that he did not have the full facts and when he did he intended to make a statement.