Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like many in this House, I have been made aware of the tragic loss and concern surrounding the sad death of Shane O'Farrell, the loved son of Jim and Lucia. I was a short time elected in 2016 when Lucia came to meet me. I was taken aback by the detail, research and forensic evidence she had compiled on what, to me, was a deeply concerning failure of our justice system not just within the Twenty-six Counties but beyond as to how we could allow the driver of the car involved in the killing of Shane O'Farrell to escape the full rigours of the law.

Fianna Fáil has persistently called for a full public inquiry into this incident. I call again for a full and open inquiry that will get to the bottom of and expose the issues and serious flaws in our judicial system in this country.

It is blatantly obvious to anyone reading the current GSOC report that there is an added danger that criminals can move willy-nilly in and out of our jurisdiction, unimpeded by their records not being properly shared by the justice departments and courts services, not to mention the PSNI and the Garda. Until we have proper information-sharing between the Garda and the PSNI, people will continue to be allowed to move freely between our jurisdictions, which will have grave consequences for public safety, as was the case with the death of Shane O'Farrell. With Brexit looming, the situation may become worse.

The key issue, as others have said, centres on the granting of bail and the failure to communicate to the courts such conditions. As a public representative in a Border constituency, I am gravely concerned about the apparent failure of the courts systems in the North and the South to share information on the issues between both jurisdictions. By GSOC's own admission in the report, this man had 53 previous convictions, 17 of these outside the jurisdiction of the Twenty-six Counties, either in Northern Ireland or in Lithuania. This is an appalling failure, and the risks associated with the lack of sharing of this information can be seen in other prominent cases. The Minister should watch this space regarding the Crevan Mackin case and the murder of Garda Tony Golden.

Regarding the issue of the sharing of information, and on foot of requests by Deputies Brendan Smith, Joe Carey and Peter Fitzpatrick and me to raise the issue with the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, we issued letters to the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, and to the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Justice in the North, Nick Perry. To date, no response has been received from the Minister, Deputy Flanagan's Department. A reply was received, however, from Nick Perry stating that regarding cross-Border policing strategy, while the arrangements were working well, they would welcome further integrated information-sharing between all the criminal justice partners in both jurisdictions. The letter states that the probation boards both in the North and the South have a cross-Border protocol and that the Youth Justice Agency currently has an informal arrangement in place. These arrangements have no legal standing and are just what they say - informal. The letter to the Minister, Deputy Flanagan's Department that was sent in September 2017 asked specifically what changes have been made to the way in which information is shared between policing and criminal justice institutions since 2011. We are still awaiting a response to that letter. It is regrettable that with all the trouble the Department of Justice and Equality has faced, the Minister's officials have not seen fit to respond to BIPA's request. The Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, said himself in 2014, when he was Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, that the Department of Justice and Equality was "not fit for purpose".

I will not go into the details that others have gone into regarding the convictions of this man and the failures to pass on information from one court hearing to the next. However, I want to know why the proposed criminal records (information systems) Bill, which Government approved on 17 April 2012, with the intention of providing for the exchange of criminal records information, is still not enacted. It beggars belief that the GSOC report states that GSOC is not aware of the current status of the legislation. As in this case, the recording of foreign convictions is done also on an ad hocbasis. There is no requirement on the Garda to check for convictions outside the Irish jurisdiction.

I and others in this House believe we must have a full and open inquiry to expose, as Deputy Smith said, the failures of the past and ensure that justice is given to the O'Farrell family.

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