Vol. 504 No. 4
78 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No. 55 of 30 March 1999, the reason his Department placed in the Oireachtas library a synopsis rather than the full advice of the Attorney General in relation to holding a referendum on joining Partnership for Peace; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12052/99]
In my efforts to be helpful to the Deputy during questions on 30 March, my intention was to ensure that he and other Deputies would be made aware of the substance of the Attorney General's conclusions on the legal and constitutional issues. As the Deputy will be aware from the standard practice in these matters, it would not have been proper for me to release the actual text of advices of the Attorney General to the Government. Accordingly, I arranged for my private secretary to write to the librarian a letter, dated 8 April, which fully reflects the substance and conclusions of the Attorney General's advice. If the Deputy has that letter of 8 April, as I assume he has, then he is fully informed of the views and conclusions of the Attorney General on the matter.
