Curtin committee refuses to halt probe

THE Oireachtas Committee gathering evidence for the impeachment motion against Judge Brian Curtin has refused to adjourn its work for three months because of the judge’s medical state.

The all-party committee, chaired by Fianna Fáil TD Denis O’Donovan, yesterday rejected submissions made by the judge’s legal team and said it would continue its investigations.

Yesterday afternoon, after two days of legal argument and deliberation, the committee issued a statement saying it was “proceeding with its work and with the implementation of the Orders of the Houses of the Oireachtas which established it”.

However, the committee did not make any finding as to the fitness of the judge to appear before it.

The judge’s legal team had argued that Mr Curtin was medically unfit to attend the hearings or to instruct his lawyers.

If it had acceded to the submissions to adjourn the hearings for three months, the committee would not have been in a position to resume hearings until next year and doubts would have been raised over its ability to complete its work.

The committee was set up following Judge Curtin’s acquittal on child pornography charges last May.

In June, Mr O’Donovan said he hoped to be in a position to report back to the Dáil and Seanad by early October.

But given the complexity of the process, it will be several months at least before the committee will be in a position to finalise its work.

There is also a possibility that the committee could find itself being subject to protracted legal challenges arising from the judge’s medical condition.

However, a more likely legal difficulty could arise from the committee’s efforts to gain access to the judge’s personal computer and software.

It is understood it has already written to the judge’s lawyers seeking the computer but was informed that the judge was not in a position to advise his lawyers in relation to the request.

It is expected that the committee may renew its efforts to secure access to the computer hardware and software over the next weeks.

The members of the committee are TDs Denis O’Donovan (FF), Jerry Cowley (Ind), Jim O’Keeffe (FG) and Jan O’Sullivan (Lab), and Senators John Dardis (PD), Geraldine Feeney (FF) and Michael Finucane (FG).