David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As colleagues have said, this is a very sensitive and very important matter. I have listened very carefully to the comments Deputies have made on the motion. As the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, said earlier this evening, we are all working towards achieving the same goal, namely, responding appropriately to the acute pain of the O'Farrell family arising from the terrible loss they have suffered.

There is no intention on the part of the Minister or the Government to limit in any way the scoping exercise being carried out by Judge Haughton into this matter. We want to get to the heart of the matter. Judge Haughton sent the terms of reference he drafted after consultation with the O'Farrell family on 24 April. These were based on the proposed terms provided to the judge on 11 February. Before finalising these terms of reference, advice was sought from the Office of the Attorney General to ensure there was no legal impediment to their forming the basis for the judge's inquiry. The Minister was agreeable at the time to those terms of reference and to the amendments made after consultation with the O'Farrell family.

In late February, however, the Supreme Court delivered its judgment in Shatter v. Guerin, which influenced the advice provided to the Minister by the Office of the Attorney General. The Minister and the Government have been guided by this advice to ensure that this is done in a way that ensures that the recommendations of the scoping exercise are legally robust. The simple and unavoidable fact is that the scoping exercise must be carried out in accordance with the law. I ask Deputies to recognise that this is in the interests of all concerned, including, crucially, the O'Farrell family. We would not serve them well by establishing a scoping exercise without regard for the law, leaving its recommendations open to legal challenge. I ask Deputies to recognise this and, further, to reflect on the fact that the judge is due to make his initial report this month - indeed, later this week - although he has said he is willing to delay this to accommodate further engagement with the O'Farrell family.

As the Minister clearly set out earlier this evening, while the terms of reference of the scoping exercise are focused, as required by law, they still allow for review of the issues intended. Judge Haughton is free in his final report to make any recommendations he sees fit, including the establishment of any form of statutory or non-statutory inquiry. None of us should prejudge the report and recommendations Judge Haughton will make, nor should we risk delaying or undermining his important work, either by challenging his terms of reference when he is on the verge of issuing his interim report or by asking him to work under terms of reference which are not in compliance with the law, rendering his work vulnerable to legal challenge.

The Government, the Minister and I recognise, appreciate and share the consistent interest in this tragedy on the part of Deputies across the House. We all have the same goal. While the process has taken longer than any of us would have wished, we ask Deputies to recognise that the process should continue in accordance with the law and without the delay or additional risk of confusion that would arise if there were interference with the ongoing work of Judge Haughton at this time.

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