Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Discussions are still happening and there are still some investigations taking place on the Minister's behalf. Someone is looking into this and gathering information on this matter. It is clear that this is a very time-limited and time-sensitive situation, as the commission will be dissolved in a few weeks' time. The Minister is still trying to establish the legality or illegality of its action. The survivors have said they did not give consent and many have gone to the Garda and the Data Protection Commission, DPC, about this. There is an obvious need to provide time to allow survivors to get answers to these questions and to allow for any examination or investigations to take place. I have asked this of the Minister before now but things have moved quite quickly in this regard. Will he please consider extending the term of the commission? The commission previously sought to extend the time provided for the provision of its reports and that time was granted because the commission sought it. The Government has extended the timeframe for which the commission was operational because the commission and the Government wanted it. This time, the survivors want more time. Will the Minister please extend the commission's remit by one year to allow his questions and the questions of the Attorney General, the DPC, the Garda and survivors to be answered?