David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

With respect, I do not think the Chairman can separate himself from being Chair of the committee. All members had that letter yesterday and any of us could have given it to a media outlet but we chose not to because the committee agreed, during a private session at which we dealt with the periodic reports, that we would deal with the matter today in private or public session. As a Deputy, the Chairman is entitled to do as he wishes. However, as Chair of the committee, it was wrong to put that information into the public domain before it was discussed by the committee.