Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Lucia and all the members of the O'Farrell family here today. Six years have passed since Lucia and Gemma O'Farrell submitted their first complaints to GSOC. They have waited all this time for a report that was to investigate in full the multitude of failings by the justice system before and after Shane was killed. We have read the GSOC report and are deeply concerned at its inadequacy. In 2015, former Minister for Justice and Equality, Alan Shatter, ordered GSOC to undertake a public interest inquiry into Shane's death to allow GSOC broaden its scope, yet there is no evidence in the report that it did so. There is little evidence or explanation to underpin its conclusions, there are statements that are simply erroneous and the absence of a summation that clearly details each complaint, finding and rationale for GSOC's conclusions is inexplicable and disgraceful.

Critically, GSOC has not addressed the failures of An Garda Síochána and the courts to act on the multiple breaches of bail documented in the report on foot of the family's complaints. Had the man who killed Shane been returned to court as ordered in January 2011, the O'Farrell family would be complete today and they would not be sitting in the Visitors Gallery here this afternoon. It is beyond extraordinary that GSOC, having made the decision that no criminal offence occurred, will only now investigate these complaints as disciplinary matters. Justice delayed is justice denied. It seems abundantly clear now that GSOC is playing for time and is playing games. It strikes me that in first instance it is the Minister's job to put a stop to that. It is clear that the investigation necessary to uncover the truth is beyond the capacity and competency of GSOC and that an independent public inquiry is now required.

The O'Farrells' complaints to GSOC also pertain to the DPP. While the DPP enjoys the independence of its office, it must be accountable for its decision to delay progressing additional charges against the perpetrator until after his trial. The complaints raised and validated by evidence uncovered by the O'Farrells and Lucia has been utterly meticulous. The idea that she missed something is frankly an absurdity, and all this extends beyond one family's grief. There is a catalogue of significant failings across the judicial system that cannot go unchallenged.

How are communities living within this divisional district to have confidence in An Garda Síochána or the DPP if we cannot get answers to the failures surrounding Shane's case? On 2 August Lucia and Jim O'Farrell and their beautiful daughters will mark the seventh anniversary of their beloved Shane's death. We cannot and we must not let another year pass without justice for Shane. The Minister offered sympathy and support to the family - rightly so - and we echo that sentiment, but they do not want our sympathy. They want the truth and they deserve, and we need, an independent public inquiry.

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