Gardai in Cork have confirmed that an investigation is under way, following an official complaint by Amnesty International, into the remarks made by Fianna Fáil's deputy Noel O'Flynn on asylum seekers in Cork.
As one part of the inquiry The Irish Times has been asked to make a statement to the gardaí about an interview with Mr O'Flynn, published by this newspaper on January 29th last.
In the interview, Mr O'Flynn said he was against "the spongers, the freeloaders, the people screwing the system," and added that in his view, the taxpayer was being asked to foot a bill which had increased from £20 million in 1997 to almost £200 million today.
He also called for tighter and speedier procedures to deal with asylum applications as well as compulsory health checks for all illegal immigrants and immediate deportation for anyone found with false papers at the point of entry.
Mr O'Flynn said the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, had indicated to him there would be a referendum at some future date on the question of automatic citizenship rights for immigrants' children born here.
The TD's comments caused uproar in the Dáil and there were calls from the opposition for his resignation.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, moved quickly to dissociate the Government from the remarks and is understood to have warned Mr O'Flynn to remain silent on the immigration issue.
However, the Cork North-Central deputy has continued, when asked, to defend his remarks and says he represents a broad consensus on the issue in Cork.