Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Murphy. I know that we totted up the cost of these here before going back over the last 25 years, and it has come to a large sum. There may be a need for standalone body, but if there is already a body there which can be beefed up, and its role expanded, it would be better. Most people would be happy enough to see that we would get a cost-effective way of dealing with it, but also one which can deal with it in good time, because they seem to drag on and on. Some of them have gone on for nearly a decade. By the time we get to the truth, the people who are involved have moved on, or they could even be gone to the next world. That is not acceptable.

It is really the Department of the Taoiseach that will have to move on this. That is my own opinion about it. This correspondence goes on about the Department of Justice. To give it high importance, we should write back to the Department of the Taoiseach. We had a figure here before for the cumulative sum spent on inquiries over the past number of years. We should point out our dissatisfaction, and the fact that - as Deputy Murphy has summed it up - a lot of debate, discussion and commentary on it, and it has been raised at different times within the Houses of the Oireachtas, both within the committees and the Dáil and Seanad Chambers as well, I am sure. We are just not seeing any progress on it, and it is an issue we need to get hold of. It is important to emphasise to the Department of the Taoiseach that we need a system that will deal with matters in a timely manner, ensure there is a high standard and that there are fair procedures, but also that it is more cost-effective. Is that agreeable? Would the Deputy be happy enough with that?