Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It disappoints me that I have to raise this issue again. In the past number of years, we have had independent reviews, Dáil motions and apologies but we have never had an end to this saga for survivors, many of whom continue to seek to meet me, my party leader and probably the Minister as well. Over the summer, stinging and, unfortunately, all too predictable criticism was levelled at the scheme in the independent assessment. This had been predicted by Deputies on the floor of this House and by academic experts. We have still not reached the end of the process. The most recent response I received from the Minister indicates that only half of the offers made had been accepted and that the review undertaken by the Department with the Office of the Attorney General remained incomplete. Will the Minister provide an update and begin, on behalf of the Government, to show some compassion towards the people affected by this issue?

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