Justice Minister with questions to answer

The Opposition is calling on the Minister for Justice to explain why he concealed correspondence with former junior Minister Bobby Molloy on the issue of an approach made to Judge Philip O’Sullivan in relation to the case of Patrick Naughton.

John O’Donoghue tonight revealed details of 14 letters of correspondence between himself and Bobby Molloy in relation to the case.

In one of the letters, Minister O’Donoghue denies a request from Minister Molloy, to seek a temporary release for Mr Naughton, who was on remand at the time.

He also stated that as Minister for Justice he was precluded from interfering in particular cases.

Minister O’Donoghue says the extent of correspondence came to light following a trawl by officials in his Department, and he decided to make those letters public immediately.

Fine Gael’s Alan Shatter says the Minister must explain why he concealed the fact yesterday that there was an exchange of 14 letters between him and Minister Molloy about the case.

Deputy Shatter said: "He must also clarify whether the civil servant who improperly telephoned High Court Judge Phillip O’Sullivan on behalf of Minister Molloy had any knowledge of the correspondence disclosed this evening."

He said it’s no longer credible, in the context of the amount of correspondence involved, that the Minister had no knowledge of the matter until Judge O’Sullivan made his statement in court yesterday morning.

A spokesperson for the Progressive Democrats says in light of tonight’s revelations, the party accepts there was a grave error of judgement on Mr Molloy’s behalf.

But the spokesperson pointed out that Mr Molloy had paid the ultimate price for his mistakes.