THE Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, is coming under pressure to report to an Oireachtas committee next Thursday on progress being made in the Philip Sheedy affair, rather than "park" the issue until the Dail resumes on April 20th.
But because an inquiry into irregular court procedures ordered by the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Hamilton, is unlikely to be completed before the end of the week, such a development is regarded as unlikely.
As part of that inquiry, the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Morris, is expected to interview Mr Justice Hugh O'Flaherty of the Supreme Court about suggestions of his possible involvement in the irregular listing of the Sheedy case for the Circuit Criminal Court when he returns from the United States on Thursday or Friday.
The President of the Circuit Court, Mr Justice Esmond Smyth, has already conducted an interview with Mr Justice Cyril Kelly about his hearing of the case and has sent a report on this and other matters to the Chief Justice.
A Department of Justice spokesman said an undertaking given by the Minister to report to the Dail when inquiries were completed would be honoured. He was unable to say whether the findings of the inquiries initiated by the Chief Justice would be made public.
Sheedy was released from prison last November after serving only one year of a four-year sentence for dangerous driving causing the death of a mother of two, Mrs Anne Ryan.
An appeal by the DPP challenged the suspension of the remaining sentence, and Sheedy then voluntarily presented himself for re-admittance to Mountjoy Prison.
The Fine Gael justice spokesman, Mr Jim Higgins, said he regarded the matter as so critical, in terms of public confidence in the judicial system, that it should be dealt with urgently.
The Labour Party justice spokesman, Mr Brendan Howlin, suggested the Minister should come before the Committee on Justice, Equality and Women's Rights next Thursday, to update members of the Oireachtas on progress being made in investigating the case.
Mr O'Donoghue was ultimately responsible for the administration of justice and he had a duty to ensure this serious matter was brought to a swift conclusion, Mr Howlin said.
If the Minister for Justice had received any new information about the case, he had to make it available to the public through next Thursday's Oireachtas committee meeting.
He said the issue could not be "parked" until the Dail resumed after Easter.
The Fine Gael spokesman posed three questions to Mr O'Donoghue last night: "Who was responsible for having the case wrongfully listed for hearing in the Circuit Criminal Court? What was the motivation? And why was the case heard by Mr Justice Cyril Kelly when it should have been sent to the Court of Criminal Appeal or to the High Court?"
The integrity of the judicial process had been called into question by these irregularities, Mr Higgins said. Fine Gael wanted an urgent resolution and was demanding an early briefing by Mr O'Donoghue on the investigations conducted by the Chief Justice, publication of those reports and a full and adequate Dail debate.