Minister expresses confidence in Attorney General

Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn has said that he has "every confidence" in the Attorney General.

It follows a Supreme Court ruling last week which deemed the Government’s use of €1.1m of public funds designed to inform voters had been wrong and that extensive passages on information leaflets had breached rules of fairness.

Ministers have said the Attorney General Maire Whelan advised the Government on its legal position prior to the publication of the information.

The issue will be discussed by Cabinet Ministers at their meeting this morning, along with the low turnout for Saturday's referendum and the strong No vote.

Minister Quinn says he is happy with the Attorney General and will listen to her response.

"I don have every confidence in the AG," he said. "As you know, the high Court upheld the action taken by the Government and the advice given by the AG, that was, in turn, overturned by the Supreme Court.

"Obviously we are bound by the Supreme Court and by the Constitution. We will listen carefully to the response given by the AG to us, she is our legal advisor, and action will be taken consequent to that, but I can't anticipate what that action will be."