Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy knows, the idea of the advisory board was introduced following the pre-legislative scrutiny process to ensure a wider degree of views would feed into the operation of the director and the agency. It was introduced in particular to ensure expertise not directly commissioned or hired by the agency and independent of it would be able to exert influence on decisions on the undertaking of the DNA identification programme, for example. It would also ensure the views of relatives would have a direct means of influencing the determinations of the agency. It is something my Department and I brought forward.

We would have this chaired by someone with coronial expertise, again recognising the importance of having the work being done here in a way that is fully compliant with coronial practice. We removed the restriction relating to the jurisdiction of the coroner within the legislation but this was a further element to ensure coronial practice would be well reflected in the legislation.

My concern with the proposal from Deputy Cairns is about having a chair that has both coronial expertise and experience of transitional justice, which is quite a specific discipline. It would narrow incredibly the scope of people who could potentially be a chair. I do not even know if we could be guaranteed to have somebody with both elements of expertise. That is my concern and why I do not feel I can accept the provision.

There is also the question of having a representative of the local authority. It is important that there be a mechanism whereby the work done by an agency can operate in a wider context of the performance of services in that area. For example, a local authority would clearly relinquish any role related to burials under the 1948 legislation. It is important that a wider sense of the locality be reflected in the actions of the agency. That is reflected to the director and the agency through the advisory board and although it is only one position within the advisory board, it is important that it is reflected. It is one position among a wider group of people on the advisory board.