Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As I stated earlier, I appreciate the Minister’s interest and engagement with affected families, and I thank all the other Deputies who contributed, namely, Deputies Cahill, Browne and Ferris. I sympathise with Deputy Ferris, who lost his good friend 20 years ago. No one likes to lose a loved one, whether through a serious illness or, worst of all, tragedy. Today is International Mental Health Day and one would not like to lose someone from suicide or anything else. Questions always have to be answered, but when an investigation is poor, that is sad. I again salute Ann-Marie and her selfless, Trojan work in seeking to amend the legislation. I welcome the Minister’s appointing of new members of the board with the requisite experience. I am delighted he will accept the Second Reading of this amendment Bill.

I refer to the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Casualties) (Amendment) Bill 2019. It is to be hoped that when the legislation reaches Committee Stage that the Minister will be as willing to engage and move it forward. Everybody in the House is in agreement and I know we have nobody present from the Labour Party. I thought that Deputy Kelly would attend and the Deputies from Tipperary such as Deputies Healy and Lowry. Nobody has expressed a different opinion or any opposition. Everyone sees the legislation as being for the greater good, and but for the greater good, where would any of us be. It will be a salutary legislation if it proceeds to the next Stage and reaches Committee Stage and back in order for both Houses to debate. Perhaps the legislation will be enhanced and beefed up. Perhaps other misgivings and areas that other minds can see, and minds greater than mine, will make amendments and debate them. Debate is always healthy.

As I said, Deputy Ferris mentioned a bow wave as the possible cause of this accident. I have mentioned the Barry family, and one of them died very tragically some months ago. Unfortunately, I cannot think of the name of the television show - we were talking about a broadcasting Bill last night - that made an appeal to come along and finish the man’s house. The work was completed in a number of days. Anne Marie’s dad, who was up here, spent three days working as a tradesman on the project. The spirt of the meitheal was evident and is evident in Ireland. Many of the tradespersons came, contrary to my belief, from Dublin to help build the house in nine days. Sadly, the house was started but the man got ill, tragically, and he was one of the witnesses that came forward. A public appeal was never made, which had nothing to do with the Minister. A public appeal for information was not made when the accident happened.

If there is an accident tonight anywhere, and I hope there will not be, and there was a casualty or a very serious injury, the Garda would put out a public appeal for information. Then the area would be sealed off. There were diversions created on country roads in my area last night, between Clonmel and Cahir, and rightly so. It is right that every step is taken to ensure that the scene of an accident or incident is preserved. This was a huge inconvenience, and rightly so. Every step should be taken to ensure that all evidence at the scene of the accident or incident is preserved. That did not happen at sea. Neither the Garda nor the MCIB can investigate in that fashion at sea. It was “dúirt bean liom go ndúirt bean léi”, that is, it was “a woman told me that a woman told her” type situation. The family are expected to accept this.

The family were told that evening that the two lads had great difficulty launching the rig. There are supposed to be staggering and drunk. What horrible things to suggest about them. What was the motive for such suggestions when the autopsy report was clear that this was not the case? There was a concerted effort from the very start to divert attention from the boat that capsized this rig. There was no investigation whatsoever. I had contact with the coroner when I was writing to him and the marine investigator, and I was told not to get involved. I was told that there was a lot of stuff there I did not want to know. That was murky, dirty and not very nice carry-on from the agencies of the State. John O’Brien’s dad is sitting in the Gallery with Anne-Marie O’Brien. He asked, as did Pat Esmonde’s dad, that the boat be destroyed the day afterwards. They were emotional, horrified and traumatised and asked the Garda to destroy it. It is still hanging around. When the marine investigator, which I may have wrongly referred to earlier, and the casualty investigation people visited, the engine had been changed. It had been changed from an 8 horsepower to a 25 horsepower engine. The boat had left the secure area of the Garda station in Dungarvan. First of all, it was meant to be destroyed and then it was left there. There are many questions to be answered by An Garda Síochána. It is a very murky case. When the whale watchers came forward and when people refused to attend the inquest, they were requested to go as they could not be compelled to attend.

The case will have to be reopened for an investigation into the incident to determine how it occurred and what happened.

Anne-Marie O'Brien put up A4 posters on poles several years later in Dungarvan after she had got nowhere with the Garda in An Rinn and the family who happened to be neighbours two parishes away in Cappawhite, County Tipperary came forward. They had gone to the Garda station in An Rinn the day after the incident had occurred to report it. They had nearly capsized. After gardaí in Dungarvan had been asked, these witnesses volunteered and came forward. We do not know how many more came forward as a result of the posters, either to make telephone calls or contact Dungarvan Garda station. We will never know. The Barry family came forward and two more are since deceased - the dad and a young man. There are other family members who are still alive. It took five months for gardaí in Dungarvan to take statements from these men. When we discovered recently that the engine had been changed on the boat in the past six months at 5 p.m. some evening, gardaí could not be at the Esmonde home in Tipperary town until the morning at 9 a.m. when questions were asked about how the engine had been changed. They then tried to tell us that perhaps the engine had not been changed at all, that it had only been the badge. I have a lot of machines and engines and know that the manufacturer's badge is always on them. They are pop-riveted and would not be erased or changed very quickly. Also, they would not stay in place because of the heat of the engine. A badge is are part and parcel of an engine as manufactured. Different manufacturers such as Honda are proud of their engines and would not allow other badges to be put on them.

Anne-Marie O'Brien and her dad had to travel to Dungarvan Garda station to insist on the Garda taking statements when five witnesses had come forward. Appointments were made, but they were not kept by the Garda. However, eventually statements were taken. I do not know what file went to the Director of Public Prosecutions from Dungarvan. I do not know what file or report on the investigation was sent by the superintendent in Dungarvan, but I have previous experience of files being kept back where files suited to the Garda's side were sent and files that were not were kept. These scenarios have never been resolved. That kind of skullduggery and such shenanigans cannot be allowed to continue in a big Garda station because people have to have faith in the Garda. I have supported it fully all my life, but we must root out the rot because the Garda needs all of the support it can get from the public. As I said, a public appeal was made and the tenth anniversary is approaching next May.

Anne-Marie O'Brien and her family and friends will be forced to go to Dungarvan and perhaps make a re-enactment. We had a big debate about the broadcasting licence fee earlier. I do not know why RTÉ's "Prime Time Investigates" programme cannot investigate these underhand, shoddy and lacklustre investigations because there is a tang off this investigation; one could smell it in Ardmore from Helvick Head. Everybody knows locally. I asked people to go undercover and make inquiries. When they came back to me, they told me to keep away from it. I had people coming to me to tell me about another incident in which five lives had been lost at sea. I also talked to people who had involved with the Whiddy Island disaster. Deputy Ferris mentioned other cases. They are countless. It is not acceptable in a modern democracy when people lose their lives at sea or any other place that there is not proper site protection, a proper investigation and proper accountability before the law. It is tragic enough for the family without being able to secure arrests.

We will continue our struggle. With the families and others, I want to help An Garda Síochána. The case is with Assistant Commissioner Finn who is the latest person to take it on. We have gone through all of the hoops to have it investigated. We have not yet met the Commissioner, but we will be knocking on his door soon because we need answers as to why it happened. Why was the boat not destroyed when the families requested it? Why was the engine on the boat changed when the inspector went to inspect it? The families thought the boat had been destroyed. It beggars belief that it was being used as a pleasure craft or for whatever reason, that it was taken out of the Garda station, that the engine was changed or that someone went into the Garda station to change it. Most Garda stations are secure. This is a regional Garda station that is manned 24 hours a day.

Táim beagnach críochnaithe. I again thank the Minister. I also thank my colleagues for supporting this amendment Bill. I look forward to it proceeding to Committee Stage and I hope being accepted and even improved. I also hope it will help to save somebody else's life. We are here to help if we can. I appreciate the Minister's engagement and the fact that he has already made some changes to the board. I also appreciate the fact that he is willing to accept reasonable proposals. It is welcome that we will not wait for the European Commission to take us to the European court to make changes. It is important that we make them here and do the groundwork with the engagement and goodwill of all sides of the House in supporting the Minister.

I thank the Acting Chairman for his forbearance. I know that it is a terrible evening and that everyone wants to get some so ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil chuig gach Ball.

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