Opposition parties fail to agree Lawlor motion

Labour and Fine Gael have failed to agree the wording of a Dáil motion of censure on Liam Lawlor which is to be debated on Thursday. A meeting of the party whips broke up without agreement this evening.

Mr Lawlor today began serving a 28-day prison sentence in Mountjoy Jail for his failure to comply with orders from the Flood Tribunal. This is his third prison term in thirteen months.

The main opposition parties had objected to a Government motion, claiming that it merely reiterated the terms of a similar proposal last year. However, they failed to agree a joint motion that would renew the call for Mr Lawlor's resignation from the Dáil on the grounds of his failure to co-operate with the Flood Tribunal.

No further meetings are planned for this evening but it is likely that the whips will remain in contact.

The Fine Gael leader earlier suggested that there would be a legal difficulty in debating such a motion in the absence of the jailed former Fianna Fáil TD.

Michael Noonan said that Mr Lawlor had written saying that the Dáil would be acting as "judge, jury and executioner" if the debate proceeded in his absence.

Mr Noonan asked the Taoiseach to make arrangements for Mr Lawlor to be allowed to attend the debate before returning to Mountjoy immediately afterwards.

The Taoiseach said that the legal officer of the Oireachtas had no objection to Thursday's debate. Bertie Ahern said that he was not sure if it was appropriate or proper for the Government to intervene to ensure a member's presence after the courts had ordered his imprisonment.

Mr Lawlor earlier told RTÉ News that he still believed he had done all in his power to co-operate, but that, because he had forgotten that he had put money in his sons' accounts, he had landed himself in this position. He also said that he accepted it was wrong to falsify invoices.

The prison service has said that the TD's latest stay will be "routine" for them. He will join around 420 other inmates at the prison. Like many other prisoners, he will have his own cell.

This sentence was imposed by the High Court last Friday for the Mr Lawlor's continued failure to co-operate with the Flood Tribunal. The court also fined him €12,500.

Liam Lawlor waited until late yesterday to announce that he was not going to appeal the matter to the Supreme Court. If he had lost that appeal, the court could have increased the sentence.