As any Sir Humphrey Appleby, GCB, KBE, MVO, MA (Oxon) worthy of his or her Leinster House access-all-areas pass will confirm, the best way to kill off persistent, difficult ideas is to exile them to the never-never land of consultation, to divert them up endless cul-de-sacs and, eventually, watch them drown in a quagmire of earnest, impractical reports or costings.

Terms for an inquiry into secret Garda recordings will be decided by Government tomorrow and could include a probe of illegal recordings made at prisons.