Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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I am present in the Convention Centre Dublin. I am in one of the booths so it is a little dark. I will try to improve the lighting. I thank the Minister. One of the things that has come through in the testimony to the committees and the public debate on this issue is a breakdown of trust, a lack of trust among survivors and their families that the right thing will be done. In his statement, the Minister talked about how the legislation will enable a wide range of disciplines and a multidisciplinary assessment of sites. It enables it but it does not necessarily require it. We have seen from the evidence so far that things such as forensic anthropology, osteoarchaeology and forensic DNA are very important in assessing any particular site. They are important for understanding fully what happened at a site. It is important for those disciplines to become requirements of the legislation to ensure that these things are at least considered. Perhaps there should be an assumption that these things will be used that must be rebutted by the agency. Perhaps there should be a requirement for an assessment of the site and which disciplines will be needed. That way, decisions as to what disciplines and expertise will be used are taken in a transparent way. As the Minister said, if the agency decides not to exhume or investigate a site, it must make clear why it has made that decision. For the same reason, it is important for the agency, should it choose at a particular site, for example, not to use forensic anthropology, to justify that decision. Putting that requirement or assumption into the Bill is an exercise in building trust and transparency. I appreciate that the legislation does not preclude these things and they can happen. However, putting them into the legislation as a positive requirement shows that we are at least thinking about these matters and acknowledging they are important. It is an aspect of helping to rebuild trust.

The Minister said that he wants to make the information freely available to others and that is positive. However, we must have information that we can make available and we get that information by making sure that experts are involved. In turn, we make sure those experts are involved by making an assumption that they will be involved and showing that we are trying to achieve those things with this legislation, instead of the legislation simply being an enabling piece. I appreciate, as I said, that those measures are not precluded but they should be baked in from the very beginning. I would love to hear the Minister's thoughts on the difference I am highlighting.