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

I agree with the Taoiseach that the next steps must in the first instance be dictated by Majella but I also think that the State has an obligation, retrospectively, to ensure, for example, that she is awarded her full pension. There is an obligation on the State not to speculate that there may well be other Majellas but to establish the full facts of the matter. It seems anecdotally that this was not an isolated case. There is an obligation to investigate if it is true, or not, that there were more Majellas and, if so, how many?

It is important that the serving Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, having, rightly, echoed an apology to Majella, should establish that we are now living in a new time. The then serving Minister for Justice in 1983, Deputy Michael Noonan, as recently as ten years ago described this as an internal Garda matter. It is very important that matter is clarified. I would imagine that Deputy Noonan would welcome the opportunity to clarify this matter.

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