Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I thank the Minister for his reply. I believe the Irish authorities in both the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Defence Forces have done a good job.

However, a number of questions must be resolved. First, a 59 year old lady, who had been to Medjugorje previously, went missing between 4 and 6 September. The vagueness as to when she went missing suggests that no immediate reporting of the event took place. Second, the police in Medjugorje did not interview any of the other pilgrims who had accompanied her to ascertain who might have last seen her, what were the circumstances and so on. There has been such severe criticism of the local authorities in Medjugorje regarding the failure to conduct an investigation that the family believe something of a cover-up took place and that the authorities there do not want any public dissemination of news that a person may have gone missing. It transpires that seven or eight other people have also vanished into thin air. This raises the question as to whether something more sinister may be afoot.

The direct family members are greatly dissatisfied regarding the conduct of the local authorities. Consequently, because of the lack of urgency and the absence of a comprehensive approach, on behalf of the family, I ask the Minister of Defence to make available some or all of the 56 soldiers serving in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In addition to the 56 soldiers serving in Bosnia, over 100 troops are stationed in Kosovo so there are many troops in the region. It should not be difficult to put together a substantial force to carry out a thorough search of the area. It is now ten weeks since the lady in question went missing and her family feels it would be wonderful if the Irish authorities based in the vicinity could do something directly. Will the Minister consider making Irish troops or a portion of them available for an intensive search?

See this speech in context