Ms Fiona Crowley:

I could probably answer the two in one because it is something of a chicken and egg situation. Without the independent investigation or other forms of investigation, it is hard to reveal what is the most urgent action the Government could take to ensure not only truth and justice for those known victims of renditions in which Ireland was a staging post, but also non-repetition.

On the other hand, we came up with a fairly solid set of possible recommendations on which we got no engagement at all with the Departments or with the Government more generally. For example, the Cabinet committee established by the previous Government was meant to be a way for the Cabinet to engage collectively with the issues. It committed to reviewing the adequacy of the civil and Garda powers in respect of checking aircraft going through Ireland and it met only three times and reported nothing. Therefore, we are always a bit suspicious of anything that does not have the hallmarks of independence, adequate resources, particularly powers of compellability, guarantees of a comprehensive terms of reference and, most importantly, transparency.

There are many actions that the Government could take short of an independent investigation. We recognise that resources might always be an issue. If the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport were to engage meaningfully in an assessment of the degree to which civil aviation law needs to be overhauled and the degree to which the powers of the Irish Aviation Authority and others can, and perhaps should, better request this sort of information from transiting aircraft, then that sort of transparency would work.

In terms of another public interest mechanism, however, we look to the Joint Oireachtas Committee Public Service Oversight and Petitions perhaps or other forms of mechanisms that might have this public interest mandate because it is a matter of public interest. If civilian aircraft were allowed to transit Irish territory en route to renditions, goodness knows what else they could have been up to. It is a matter of ongoing concern, and in the public interest.

In summary, we continue to call for an independent, effective and comprehensive investigation, but in the meantime we would very much welcome anything short of that which could compel this sort of information and interrogate the degree to which the Government has the resources already and needs further resources and laws in order to be able to ensure this sort of thing does not happen again.