Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister's very clear statement and he summed up very well the significant grief and anguish felt by so many families. As he noted, the request of these families is very small, and with courage and dignity they have outlined very clearly that they want a final resting place for loved ones where they can lay flowers and say a prayer. We should all recognise that these are simple requests, and people with knowledge of the location of these victims, who were murdered in horrific circumstances, must come forward and give every possible assistance to the commission. Time is definitely on nobody's side.

For what is probably the first time in my 21 years in this House, I am wearing an emblem or badge. It is the badge supporting the families of the disappeared. I was a very close friend and colleague of the first commissioner, Mr. John Wilson, who was a former Tánaiste, and as the Minister, Deputy Shatter, has noted, I am familiar with the work of the commission from its early days. I was appraised in general rather than specific terms and I knew from the word go of the terrible anguish felt by the families and the simple requests made by them when a loved one had been lost in horrific circumstances. They requested the return of the body so they could have some type of closure. That is a bad phrase but they just want a place to lay flowers, say a prayer and have a final resting place for loved ones.

Perhaps we in the House should have a debate to keep this issue in the public mind, and maybe some of the people with relevant knowledge will come forward and assist the commission in its very difficult work. I do not underestimate the difficulty involved but, as I reiterate, time is on nobody's side.

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