The Ceann Comhairle has personally apologised to former Rehab boss Angela Kerins over her treatment by members of the Public Accounts Committee.
Last month the Supreme Court ruled that the treatment of Ms Kerins by members of the Dail’s Public Accounts Committee was unlawful.
Seán Ó Fearghaíl described the Supreme Court ruling over the issue as “a watershed” for members of the Dail.
During an interview with RTE’s The Week in Politics Mr O’Fearghaíl said he would like to “personally apologise to Ms Kerins” for what happened to her.
The Ceann Comhairle noted that there had been “much commentary outside about the chilling impact that the Kerins judgement might have on the Oireachtas”.
However, he said what he found “chilling” was that “the supreme court found that committee in the last Dail had effectively broken the law had trampled on the rights of Ms Kerins”.
He added: “Our absolute determination is to ensure that in what remains of the 32nd Dail and in further Daileanna that that type of situation will not happen again”.
However, he added that the Dail committees still “have to be able to have robust questioning”.
He said: “We don’t want echo chambers but we can’t have star chambers either “.
“There has to be an agreed protocol around how we will deal with witnesses robustly questioning them on the pertinent but respecting those witnesses who’ve come before us at the same time”.
Mr Ó Fearghaíl said that part of the reform package being looked at was streamlining committees to avoid duplication.
He said that the business committee in the Dail may be involved in deciding how the remit of the committees would accommodate the different topics.
“Definitely things need to be streamlined,” he said. “The idea of witnesses coming before two or three committees is patently ridiculous”.
He said that he hopes that this situation would be resolved when the Dail resumed after its summer recess in September
In 2014 Ms Kerins appeared before two hearings of the committee relating a number of issues at Rehab including salaries, its commercial relationships and her company car.
She resigned from the Rehab group that April saying that it was “in the best interests” for both Rehab and her family that she step down from her post.
