Sir, – I welcome the reversal by Renua of its policy commitment to publish all advice given by the attorney general to the government. Lucinda Creighton now accepts that there are circumstances where publishing that advice would not be appropriate ("Why most attorney general advice needs to be made public", Opinion & Analysis, April 6th).
Her policy as originally announced would have handed over the government’s best legal advice to tobacco companies, countries opposed to Ireland’s corporation tax regime, and everyone else who is suing Ireland or who in the future might consider doing so.
The revised Renua policy raises other questions. In what circumstances would such legal advice be withheld, and when would it be published? Ms Creighton has no clear answer to those questions.
Her article suggests that we will see a properly thought-out version of this policy later in the year. Renua’s revised policy would create a situation in which some legal advice is drafted for publication, and thus with one eye to public opinion.
There is a real risk that such advice would become influenced by the imperatives of political spin-doctors. Such legal advice would not serve the State well.
This issue exposes a deeper problem at the heart of Renua. Serious political parties do not announce policies on the whim of one person, only to revise them just as quickly. – Yours, etc,
Cllr JIM O’CALLAGHAN,
City Hall, Dublin 2.