Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

There can be no fast-tracking this issue. It has already taken five years to get the process to this stage. Deputies may want quick public inquiries, but if there is one thing I have learned in almost seven years as Taoiseach, it is that there is no such thing. Deputies will find this situation no different. We may not get anywhere quickly but we should receive the committee's report quickly because it is working diligently to report to the House.

As Deputy Sargent said, I announced that €9 million was to be provided for victims of the Troubles in this jurisdiction, and work has been done on schemes to disburse those funds. Members of the commission were appointed in October, and it has met on a number of occasions. Further work was required on the schemes before applications for funding could be invited, but that work is now almost finished, and it is expected that the commission will be in a position to invite applications shortly. There have been some delays, but those are about to be resolved.

See this speech in context