THE Minister for Finance strongly denied that the Taoiseach had misled the House on the Government's decision to set up a courts service board. Mr Quinn was deputising for Mr Bruton on the Order of Business, when he was challenged by the opposition.

The Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, said that on November 12th, the Taoiseach announced in the Dail the setting of the board on a non-statutory basis. But it had been learned on last Friday night, following a statement by the Fianna Fail spokesman on justice, Mr John O'Donoghue, that the Government was not proceeding on that basis. He asked Mr Quinn why the decision, was made at the Cabinet meeting the previous Tuesday, was not relayed to the House.

Mr Willie O'Dea (FF, Limerick East) said the issue was whether the House was misled. Mr Martin Cullen (FF, Waterford) said the Taoiseach had misled the House.

Mr Quinn said he wanted to refute the allegation on behalf of the Taoiseach. "When he is in a position to be here, he can deal with it as he sees fit himself. But I do not want the record of this House to stand unchallenged. The Taoiseach did not, in my view, mislead the House."

Earlier, Mr Quinn said the Government, particularly the Taoiseach, was anxious to move as quickly as possible to establish the board. Between the time the decision was made and announced by the Taoiseach to proceed with the board on a non-statutory basis, the Government had received a third report from the Denham committee.

This, inter alia, contained within it the draft heads of a bill which particularly short-circuited the normal time-gap between a non-statutory operation and the provision of a statutory operation.

"The Government very sensibly then decided that since a lot of the work had been done by this committee, it was not necessary to proceed on a non-statutory basis."

Mr Ahern said the Government had made representatives of the judiciary on the Monday and changed its position, and the Cabinet had changed its position on the Tuesday, but the Minister for Justice made no reference to the changed decision during the two-day Dail debate on the Cromien report. "Does it not matter if Ministers mislead the House? Does it not matter if the record of the House is incorrect? Does it not matter if the Government make decisions then have debates and do not inform the House of what has happened?"

The PD leader, Ms Mary Harney, said the board should be set up on a statutory basis. "But we seem to be having policy-making on the hoof. In the wake of catastrophes, the Government come up with announcements that are not thought out."

Mr Quinn replied: "If Deputy Harney achieves her ambition to be Tanaiste in Deputy Ahern's Government, then perhaps she will understand the complex way in which decisions are made ... Decisions are not made on the hoof. There was a very logical train of philosophy and thinking behind the decision."

Mr O'Donoghue said the first report from Mrs Justice Susan Denham made it clear the board could not be established on a non-statutory basis. "The Government was using the courts service as a fire brigade to put out a fire which was engulfing the Government."