Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I will be quick because I am also attending a meeting next door. I want to make a comment. Mr. Gaffney's submission shows it has been 15 years of a nightmare. He and his family have been put through pure torture. It is very much the case that he is falling between every single stool and no one is taking responsibility for what happened to him. The State has a duty of care in this instance. Mr. Gaffney is highlighting a safety concern that is of major significance but it is not just a safety issue because he is also highlighting an enormous gap in the regulatory system that has allowed this case to happen. It is important that those gaps are closed.

I am also from a maritime family and I know that when you grow up with it, it is in your system and blood.

That is the case. I would imagine it was difficult for Mr. Gaffney to have to deal with this happening to him and for him to be pulled out of his community, culture and job. The way in which he has been treated by the State is not fair.

I agree with Senator Craughwell’s suggestions and also those made by Deputy Brady. We need someone – I am of the view that it needs to be the Taoiseach – to take responsibility for this, to work with Mr. Gaffney and to make his case to Europe. We need the State to deal with Mr. Gaffney separately, and we then need this be raised in Europe. It may be an issue between Ireland and Germany, and discovering how this got through those gaps, or with the EU in a broader sense. However, that is not Mr. Gaffney’s role or job. He raised and highlighted this. He brought it to the attention of politicians. It should now be politicians who move it forward. Perhaps the Tánaiste, in his position as Minister for Foreign Affairs, might be a good person to do this if we are looking for it to be brought to Europe.

I hope that this is resolved for Mr. Gaffney, because it should be. What happened was not fair. I thank the committee for bringing Mr. Gaffney in. I am sure Deputy Brady had this experience as well. We were raising it with different Ministers and just got pushed back or directed somewhere else. It is incredibly difficult to identify one person and hold him or her to account. If we can get either the Taoiseach or the Tánaiste to take this matter up and, as such, advocate for Mr. Gaffney, then that is what we should do.