Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. The interdepartmental group will have a good deal of work to do and I welcome the early deadline in terms of reporting back to Government. That is essential because, as we know from previous bitter experience, these things can drag on. I urge the Minister to stick to the deadline of the end of the month. That is extremely important.

Following on from Deputy Keaveney's questions relating to securing the site and so on, I consider some of the remarks, which have been attributed to members of An Garda Síochána, where they said that there was no suggestion of impropriety was premature in the extreme, presumptuous and not appropriate. I hope that the Minister or figures in Government have communicated that to An Garda Síochána. Does the Minister expect that there will now be a criminal investigation into events in the home in Tuam because, clearly, there is an abundance of evidence to suggest that there was impropriety? It is important not only for there to be an official investigation but also a Garda criminal investigation into activities there.

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