Joe O'Reilly (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to pay tribute to the courage of Anne Morgan and Denise Mullen Fox and all the delegates for speaking out in public about their situation. It is not easy and certainly not easy in formal settings such as this committee meeting. I congratulate them for their excellent presentations which they have delivered with great passion and personal sincerity.

I was happy that the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, was able to assure my constituency colleague, Deputy Brendan Smith, that the funding for the victims commission would remain in place. I join with Deputy Smith from the Cavan-Monaghan constituency - where all of this is very real - in saying that this is a very sensitive and important issue in our constituency. We have a pride in County Cavan in the fact that the first Victims Commissioner was a distinguished Cavan man, the former Tánaiste, John Wilson, a very distinguished academic and national politician. That fact gives us an extra interest in the work of the commission which must be supported and continued.

Of course we understand that the families should be able to have the normal bereavement process, that they all should have a grave to visit. Those of us who have the privilege of a grave to visit find it very therapeutic to attend the blessing of the graves in our religious tradition and to visit the grave on Sundays. The delegates deserve the same as the very minimum.

It is very disappointing that the families know the broad locations of where people are buried but do not have more precise information. I ask the delegates to comment on this aspect and to explain what precise information is available to them. It seems the location cannot be reached in a number of cases. I have to ask the question whether the delegates are receiving the co-operation they believe they should be getting from members of the Provisional movement. I know that Denise Mullen Fox does not have to deal with a disappeared victim but I ask if she is receiving support from the State services.

Are the families of the Disappeared receiving the requisite co-operation? Are the views expressed by Deputy Ferris typical? Is there a real effort to find the information that the families need? We need to know because the committee would have no point in meeting today if that question is not addressed in a clear way. I ask the delegates to explain the gaps or lacunae in the information being provided to them. Who is responsible for them? Does more precise information exist which the families are not receiving? If so, who is keeping it from them and why? This has to be examined at this committee because otherwise this meeting will be sadly a farce. It is our job to address that aspect in order to be of assistance. This meeting is being broadcast live which means the matter will gain some media focus, in the same way as the recent evocative television programme.

This is an important question.

I will move from the issue of the disappeared to Ms Mullen Fox's point on collusion in the Glenanne case. What level of State recognition or support has she received?

Ms McCallan stated that a structured process needed to be in place for the bereaved. What would that structured process be? If the centre is not adequately resourced, what is the gap?

The numbers are large. If I heard Ms McCallan correctly, she stated that 1,200 families in the Coalisland-Dungannan area had been affected. Perhaps she might clarify. The number is extraordinarily high.

What precisely is a trauma education programme? Where would it be administered, who would administer it, how long would it last, what would it cost and what would be the outcome? What have been the outcomes to date elsewhere?

I congratulate the Chairman on convening this meeting and Deputy Smith on proposing it. It is a painful day for everyone in the room, but it will be of no help if we do not get a clear sense from our guests as to where they believe they stand and where they believe their problems lie.