Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has spoken about the length of time involved. In regard to the cases that have been referred to the review mechanism, many of them have been on people's desks and in various places in the system over the past decade and some cases go back much further. Many of these cases have been through a variety of processes, including independent investigations or the courts, while no action has been taken on some, other than that a person has made a complaint expressing a concern about how he or she was dealt with either in the criminal justice system or by gardaí. It is clear there is a wide variety of cases. These cases have been in the system for some time, some of them for ten years or longer. It is important, therefore, that we take the time to examine them in detail, that we give the counsel the time to do that and to review all of the paperwork that has come in, and then make a decision. I have allowed the time for this.

In regard to the delay in implementing the Guerin commission recommendations, before we saw the scale of the number of cases referred to the review mechanism, I hoped initially that the Guerin commission would be able to encompass them. However, due to the number of cases referred, it soon became clear that in the context of the terms of reference of the Guerin commission, we would not be able to make a decision about what precisely should be referred. Therefore, it would have been inappropriate to include these cases at that time. I was keen also to move ahead with the Guerin commission. The Government took a decision that we would follow precisely what Seán Guerin had recommended in his report for the commission. Most Deputies appreciate that Mr. Guerin made a series of recommendations. We followed those recommendations precisely and left nothing out. The approach we took was to make a comprehensive examination of what was recommended.

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