Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Taoiseach.

I turn now to Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General, regarding an issue on which the Taoiseach has also made commitments. It concerns the Stardust inquiry. Budget 2021 allocated funding for an inquest into the Stardust fire after years and years of campaigning by the families. I commend those families who have never let this issue go. A commitment was made that no family would be prevented from accessing justice, but that is not the case with many of them now being denied legal aid. My colleague, Senator Lynn Boylan, spoke about this matter in the Seanad as recently as yesterday. She said that these families have waited 40 years for justice and are now being asked to supply PPS numbers, bank statements and payslips. They are even being asked what kind of car they drive. This is 40 years in the waiting and families still have to fight and to protest for the justice that is their right. Section 29(2) of the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 allows for a discretion to waive the financial eligibility test. This requires a statutory instrument from the Government. Given the commitment that the Government has given, is it willing to provide that statutory instrument to waive the financial eligibility test for these families who have campaigned and waited for so long? What communication, if any, has the Taoiseach had with the Office of the Attorney General or with the Department of Justice to bring forward a statutory instrument? As the Government has made a commitment to the families, what work has the Taoiseach’s Department done to provide access to legal aid for all of the families concerned?