Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I was horrified to hear about the attack on Mr. Kevin Lunney, a decent, hard-working man whom I have known for many years. As a director of the Quinn group of companies, he supports the employment of more than 800 people in the Ballyconnell area. It is important that people should be able to go to and return from work without this type of horrific intimidation. What happened to him was absolutely outrageous. My thoughts remain with his family and friends and I wish him a full and speedy recovery. Of course, I urge anybody with information to come forward to An Garda Síochána. I am assured a full criminal investigation is under way.

I worked in Ballyconnell for many years and I am familiar with that part of the country. As a local Deputy and member of the Government, I stand behind the workers and with the directors of the company. They are Mr. John McCartin, Mr. Dara O'Reilly, Mr. Liam McCaffrey, Mr. Kevin Lunney and the plant manager, who is Kevin's brother, Mr. Tony Lunney. We will ensure the necessary resources are in place to bring to justice the perpetrators of this absolutely horrific attack. On a personal level, when I first heard about this, I was terribly upset to think a human could do this to another human. It was absolutely awful.

It is abundantly clear that these criminals are not supported by the communities in the region. Deputies will appreciate I am limited in what I can say about the incident, given that it is the subject of a significant investigation by both the PSNI and the Garda Síochána. In Cavan last week, Deputy Garda Commissioner John Twomey stated that every resource and the full weight of the Garda Síochána and its specialist units have been placed at the disposal of gardaí in Cavan. Both the Garda Síochána and the PSNI are conducting a major inquiry into this incident and they are determined to find those responsible. Deputies will have heard the Garda Commissioner during his appearance before the justice committee here last week speaking of the ongoing close co-operation between the Garda and the PSNI in response to this horrific attack. He confirmed the determination to bring these perpetrators to justice. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Charles Flanagan, and the Garda Commissioner are in Cavan today attending a cross-Border conference. The Minister plans to visit Quinn Industrial Holdings headquarters just outside Ballyconnell.

The Deputy spoke about setting up a task force.

See this speech in context