Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have a number of questions but before I ask them, might I get agreement from both committees that we send the transcript of today's hearings to the Minister and senior Department officials, asking them to take on board the calls and observations that have been collectively made here?

In recent days, I spoke to family members of a loved one who died in the last decade. I will not give any specific details. They are very aggrieved that they have had no information. Their loved one died in suspicious circumstances and they have had no feedback at all over recent years. As this case is a live investigation, the whole system seemed to shut down, even in terms of the Criminal Injuries Tribunal and the coroner. There is a whole range of issues. Listening to their case, it seems the system is just not working for them. There are other families with similar experiences.

It is only in recent times that the issue of Article 2 as read in conjunction with Article 1 has come to my attention. It was a revelation and I am really pleased that we are here today to consider it in more detail. In my view, it is a profound failure. The Coroners Act has been in place since 1962 - over 50 years - and it is now eight years since the Bill that was supposed to modernise it was initiated. I hope we can kick start the whole debate again through this hearing and begin to put in place a system that deals with the four tests Mr. Kelly talked about.

This is a long-winded way of getting to my question but I have the luxury of being able to do that as Co-Chairman. I want to get a sense from the witnesses of what they would ask the Minister for Justice and Equality to do, if they were sitting in front of her now. Could they name three key things she should initiate by way of addressing this area and bringing us into compliance with those articles?