Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

We all agree with what the Taoiseach has said about Mr. MacEntee being given adequate time to make whatever investigations he thinks might be fruitful. I wish, however, to ask the Taoiseach a couple of questions. As he said, the commission of investigation arises from the unresolved matters on the Barron inquiry. I am reminded of a parliamentary question on 28 March to the Taoiseach and his reply in the House where he referred to a still outstanding report due from Mr. Justice Barron. He went on to say that this report had been received during February and that he hoped that consideration of it by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform would not take long. He advised the House that his manner of mediating it into the public domain would be to send it to the Select Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights. To the best of my knowledge, that has not yet been done. Given that the Taoiseach's statement was on 28 March, perhaps he will tell the House why it has not been done and indicate the Government's intention in the matter now?

Going back to the MacEntee commission and the four interim reports the Taoiseach has taken, are there circumstances where the Taoiseach would invite Mr. MacEntee to make another interim report in the matter of the missing files from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform? This was one of the areas into which he was to inquire. I do not know whether that part of the inquiry has been completed and, if so, will the Taoiseach consider inviting him to make an interim report on that aspect? In respect of the entities that have met the commission, as referred to in the May interim report, can the Taoiseach say if the meeting referred to in that interim report was with a former member of the British security services? Does the Taoiseach have that information and, if so, will he advise the House? Has the Taoiseach any information on whether it is probable that the latest extension to 31 July is likely to be met by the commission on this occasion?

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