I would like to lead the House in paying tribute to the former Chief Justice, Thomas Finlay, who died at the weekend and was buried today. Over the course of 50 years he made an extraordinary contribution to the law in Ireland in a life devoted to public service. We should also remember that Mr. Justice Finlay served in the Dáil with great distinction in the 1950s. He was an eloquent representative of the people of Dublin South-Central.

Throughout his distinguished career, he always showed great sensitivity and skill, whether chairing the tribunal which investigated the hepatitis C scandal, or delivering the landmark judgment in the X case. As Chief Justice, his guiding focus was the vindication of the rights of the citizen and he was praised, for example, for the humane way in which he approached family law cases involving children.

Like all good people, he wore his goodness lightly and he was known for his humility and kindness as well as his fierce intellect. Our sympathies are with his family and friends, including his daughter, Mrs Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan, who was appointed to the Supreme Court last month. Today we honour a servant of the State, whose greatest virtue was his absolute fairness in the administration of justice.

We will stand for a moment's silence.

We will move to questions on promised legislation.

I thought we would all get time to pay tribute to a former Member. That would be appropriate to do, and should be separate to the Order of Business.

I am afraid it is not scheduled.

I appreciate the Ceann Comhairle's difficulty but we got a phone call to suggest this was happening.

Ar mo shon féin agus ar son mo pháirtí, ba mhaith liom mo chomhbhrón a dhéanamh le clann Thomas Finlay. Is léir dúinn go ndearna sé an-chuid ar son an Stáit. Bhí sé dílis do mhuintir na tíre. He had a long life and achieved many great things during it. He made some fundamental judgments. One of the most significant was the Attorney General v. Hamilton in which the Supreme Court held that the confidentiality of Cabinet discussions was absolute. I know that is a principle that current members of the Cabinet hold very dear indeed. He also ruled in Attorney General v. Hamilton (No. 2) in 1993 about parliamentary privilege. It was an important ruling where the Supreme Court held that Deputies are not amenable to any legal process with regard to utterances they make in the Dáil. Some fundamental judgments were made relating to this House, the role of Cabinet and our overall Government architecture. He gave the leading judgment in the controversial X case. He worked, as the Taoiseach said, on the hepatitis C tribunal of inquiry. To sum up, he left an enduring legacy of public service and, as a Member of this House, both politically and subsequently, in developing jurisprudence, he made a remarkable contribution to Irish life and I express our sympathies to his family, particularly to the recently appointed Supreme Court judge, Mrs Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan.

Ar mo shon féin agus ar son Shinn Féin, ba mhaith liom comhbhrón a dhéanamh le clann Thomas Finlay, iarPhríomh-Bhreitheamh agus Teachta Dála, a fuair bás dé Domhnaigh. Go ndéana Dia trócaire air. Ní raibh aithne agam ar an Uasal Finlay. I did not know Mr. Justice Finlay. However, he had a long and distinguished career in public office and it is clear from the many expressions of sympathy that he was a hugely respected figure, both as a former Fine Gael Deputy, a member of the Bar, and consequently and subsequently as a Supreme Court judge and Chief Justice, and a member of the Council of State. I want to extend my sympathies and the sympathies of Sinn Féin to his family, especially his children, including Mrs Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan who was recently appointed to the Supreme Court. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

With the Ceann Comhairle's permission, I would like to express my sympathy to the family and friends of those involved in the horrific road traffic accident that occurred in my own constituency of Wexford, on the New Ross road, last night. I empathise with the emergency response personnel, the gardaí and the ambulance crews, and indeed local people who arrived on what was a scene of horror.

I echo the words of the Taoiseach and other leaders in extending our condolences to the family, friends and former colleagues of former Chief Justice, Thomas Finlay. His career was exemplified, as others have said, by distinguished public service. He served the people both as a representative in this Parliament and as an arbiter of justice.

As others have said, in his career he was central to some of the most far-reaching judicial decisions of our time. He delivered the leading judgment in the X case and upheld parliamentary privilege in the beef tribunal case against the former leader of the Labour Party, Mr. Dick Spring. Even in retirement, he continued to serve, including as a sole member of the hepatitis C tribunal. On behalf of the Labour Party, I send our sympathy and condolences to his extended family.

If no one else wishes to contribute, we will revert to questions on promised legislation. I call Deputy Micheál Martin.