Contradiction had now been piled upon contradiction, Mr Pat Rabbitte (DL, Dublin South West) claimed during the debate on the Burke allegations.
"Why did the Taoiseach claim to have been up every tree in north Dublin - where, apparently, it is a fact that there are trees - as part of his upside-down inside-out investigation of Ray Burke's suitability for Cabinet office when he knew that no investigation worthy of the name took place?"
Mr Rabbitte asked why the Taoiseach had told the House last week that Mr Dermot Ahern had travelled to London "to examine the array of allegations" made about Mr Burke and "whether he had received a donation from JMSE or others and the amount involved" when Mr Dermot Ahern himself said his mission was to ask Mr Murphy one question.
Mr Rabbitte said there never was an investigation by the Taoiseach into allegations that, if established, would have precluded the appointment of Mr Burke to Cabinet.
There had been a carefully contrived public relations exercise designed to mollify the malleable PDs and to facilitate the Cabinet appointment of Ray Burke. "At least one prospective Minister, Dermot Ahern, knew it was a sham and the remainder of the Cabinet - including the leader of the PD - either knew it was a sham or were duped."
Mr Rabbitte said nobody in the House could have anticipated the response of Independent Newspapers. As the tirade continued, one conclusion was inescapable: if ever there was a doubt about the undesirability of a dominant position in such a sensitive industry, then the conduct of Independent Newspapers over the weekend had removed that doubt. "Journalists and columnists were used in such an overkill to defend the economic interests of their proprietor that the public were given a glimpse of what abuse of a dominant position means in practice."
Mr Rabbitte asked why, "if Dr Tony O'Reilly felt he had been traduced in this House, could he not have issued a riposte which would certainly have received prominent coverage in all of the media? The old lady of Middle Abbey Street has let her slip show and it is not a pretty sight."
He added: "May I take this opportunity to ask the Irish Independent if it is true that last Saturday they pulled a mildly critical piece by a regular columnist, Bruce Arnold? If the one-dimensional fever had reached such a pitch at Independent House that a piece by a regular columnist of the track record of Arnold was censored, then those of us who hold a different view of the world from Arnold know what to expect."