Government and Opposition party leaders have expressed their concern about the position taken by Deputy Liam Lawlor in regard to the Flood Tribunal. In a statement they said that the Tribunal had been established by the unanimous will of the members of the House.
The main text of the document had been signalled in the Dáil earlier today when the Taoiseach said that every citizen and even more so every member of the Oireachtas owed a legal, moral and democratic duty to co-operate with the Tribunal, not to obstruct it, and to comply with its lawful orders. However, it still took eight hours for the final agreement to emerge after a meeting of the party whips at Leinster House. This was in part explained by the involvement of some leaders in meetings of their parliamentary parties, but difficulties also developed over Fine Gael and Labour's insistence that reference should be made to Liam Lawlor. Initially the government resisted this on legal grounds but ultimately a formula was found to accommodate both positions.
In a preamble, the leaders said they were issuing the statement because of their concern about the position taken by Liam Lawlor in regard to the Flood Tribunal. The statement also said that the leaders would expect any citizen and any member of the Oireachtas who disputed the validity or legality of any Tribunal order, to make his case to the Tribunal and, if necessary to the courts. It was issued in the names of the leaders of Fianna Fail, the Progressive Democrats, Fine Gael, Labour and the Green Party.
