Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

With regard to tragic events such as this, the Deputy well knows in the context of this island the difficulty in locating remains where the likelihood is that individuals are still on the island who were the perpetrators of the murder of innocent individuals. It is a great deal more difficult in the context of an unidentified attack on two members of an Irish UN battalion where one individual effectively disappeared - and there is, tragically, no indication that he is still alive - to go about identifying the location of the remains. That is a great deal more difficult because on this island there are individuals who know who shot whom and where the remains are. We do not know who is responsible in this case. I would dearly love to achieve clarity and closure for the families.

I have received correspondence from individuals who allege there was a cover-up by the Defence Forces in this tragic incident and there has been a request for a new inquiry, but two inquiries were conducted into the incident, the first by the United Nations and the second by the then director of operations for the Defence Forces, Colonel Savino. What is clear from the Savino report is that there was a comprehensive and critical review of the incident. Inadequacies in the way procedures were operated and the establishment and staffing of the post where the individuals in question were tragically killed were identified in the report. I am not making the case that everything was perfect. However, recommendations were made to address the deficiencies and these, obviously, are matters of importance in the context of the way we conduct operations today.

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