Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to be associated with the expressions of sympathy on the passing of Tras Honan. While I did not know Tras, I knew her sister, Carrie Acheson, very well through my involvement with the National Ploughing Championships. I send my sympathies to the entire family.

Today, I will raise an issue I feel very strongly about. It is related to the events of last Thursday. Since those events, I have written to the director general of RTÉ and to the Minister for communications but I have received no response. I ask the Leader to use her offices to aid me in getting a response as to why our national broadcaster felt the need to announce the exact location of the alleged perpetrator on the 9 p.m. news when the situation was still very volatile. All Garda spokespersons and representatives interviewed said the alleged perpetrator was in a hospital in the greater Dublin area. It was very dangerous reporting by RTÉ to announce the exact hospital in which that individual was located when things were still very volatile and when the situation was ongoing. We all talk about how social media has been used to rile up these mobs and to accumulate them. It is blamed for starting a lot of these events. This was reckless reporting. I commend RTÉ and I know that its reporters put themselves in danger and that people deserve to get reporting but I want to know why our national broadcaster made this decision when An Garda Síochána was not announcing the exact location for operational reasons. Announcing the location while the situation was still volatile and ongoing could have had serious consequences for front-line staff, patients and security people at that hospital. I have asked the question but have not received an answer. Perhaps, through the offices of the Leader, I might be able to get an answer or explanation as to why this decision was made at such a dangerous time.