Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

I thank the Chair for allowing me to speak in the House tonight about a profoundly tragic recent event in County Wexford. As Members are aware, those of us in the county have come through a profoundly sad few days. People in all parts of the county and throughout the country have been affected by this unspeakable tragedy. Deputy Keaveney mentioned the concern and pain of people in County Donegal, for example. People are stunned that such a terrible event has visited the quiet and peaceful village of Monageer. I knew the late Hughie Dunne, the father of the deceased Adrian Dunne, just as I know Adrian Dunne's dear mother, Mary. The Dunne family are decent and respectable people who are coping with life. The untimely and tragic deaths of Adrian, Ciara, Shania and Leanne Dunne have numbed the whole community. The extended Dunne family and the Monageer community must be supported during this time of great sorrow.

We must hear now from the State. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan, to outline to the House and the people of this country the nature and scope of the independent investigation, announced by him this afternoon, into this awful tragedy. I recommend to him the model I established as Minister for Health, when I appointed Mrs. Justice Catherine McGuinness to lead a team to examine the aftermath of the Kilkenny incest case. The report that was speedily and efficiently produced in that instance had a profound impact. I hope something of that nature is being contemplated in this case.

The people of Wexford are asking profound and deep questions, most notably about what has been learned since the awful death of Sharon Grace and her beautiful children, Mikayla and Abby, two years ago. The heartfelt cry of the people of Wexford is not that blame needs to be apportioned, but that answers should be sought. As a community and as a society, we aim to seek, as far as possible, to put in place whatever measures are required to prevent a tragedy of this nature and scale from devastating another family.

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