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

This is a serious issue. I assure Deputy Boyd Barrett, with whom I frequently disagree, that this is an issue on which there is no disagreement between us. If this issue can be advanced in a manner that would bring some closure to it and that would ensure that identifiable individuals who can be properly prosecuted will be prosecuted, that would be a desirable outcome. The holding of a statutory inquiry will not achieve that outcome. It may achieve the outcome of an investigation of the investigation but it will not automatically lead to any prosecution by the DPP. This is an issue I raised with An Garda Síochána well before the petition was received by me. I wish to see what comes back to me. While I cannot give the Deputy a timeframe, I hope that within the next couple of months I will have an insight as to whether there is finally something additional the Garda can produce that is of relevance to the possibility of a prosecution.

I am advised that in the past there has been extensive engagement with the woman concerned and with her current lawyer and I am told there has been recent engagement. I am told the Garda Síochána understands all the allegations made and the history of this matter as it has been recounted to it. It is a case of what evidence exists and whether there is a basis for taking a prosecution. I would hope within the next two months to have a greater insight into that than I have now. With regard to Mr. Gageby's report, he is a very eminent senior counsel who frequently acts in the courts defending individuals on a broad range of charges. I do not know if he prosecutes on occasions as I am not that familiar with his legal practice but I know he regularly appears in the courts. He is an expert in criminal matters. I understand that in his review of the matter he concluded that there was not a basis for the holding of the type of inquiry being suggested. There was no further that this could go, based on the information currently available.

Let me see what additional information comes available. I ask Deputy Boyd Barrett to assume that for once we are on the same side on this issue, and that if I can take this forward in a way that is of benefit and of assistance to the woman concerned in bringing closure to her life on what is an alleged dreadful set of circumstances, I would be very pleased to be able to do so.

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