Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I support these three amendments. As we are discussing timescales and do not want to delay matters, it must be remembered that the number of people who can give evidence to the commission is limited as the commission is now closed to other people coming before it. In looking into these areas, the commission will only examine those cases already with it. We are not asking for a process that will inordinately extend the lifetime of the commission.

Sadly, we come back to the example of the day schools and the Donal Dunne case. There is strong evidence that different arms of State knew what was happening but failed to act. This is not just confined to the Department of Education and Science. There is evidence that other State bodies, including the Garda Síochána who did act in some cases, knew about the abuse. It is important these issues are fully examined at this stage.

If we wish to reach finality and closure on this issue, every aspect must be dealt with. If only half the story is told before the commission, we will come back to this legislation because some people will not have had the opportunity to tell their full stories. That would be the worst possible outcome. If we do that, we will never reach an end to this issue. It is important that the commission investigates every aspect that needs to be investigated.

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