Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

As an ex-Army officer, Deputy Timmins should know that United Nations boards of inquiry are internal documents of the United Nations. They are made available to state authorities on condition that they cannot be released or made public in any way, including for judicial proceedings. However, with the agreement of the United Nations, a copy of that part of the UN board of inquiry entitled "Description of the Incident", which gives a factual description of the circumstances of Private Barrett's death, was released to Mrs. Barrett. That is the position and there is nothing more we can do, as the Deputy knows.

Deputy Timmins asked could I kick-start an inquiry from my casual observations of what appeared in the media. It is not a question of acting on casual observations. This is a very sensitive matter and I feel deeply sorry for the family who are obviously traumatised by this. I will not go off on some tangent based on some casual reading of a newspaper headline. I will not use this case to scrounge around for votes as the Deputy is doing.

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