Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am informed that it is likely that it will be mid-December, so I do hope we will receive the report then. That is the timeline that I will set and that I will ask the judge to stick to. The most important point is that the family get answers to their questions. The reason we have set out this scoping exercise first is to see whether a public inquiry would bring about those answers for the family. I understand there have been many motions in the Houses, but until we have the answers to the current scoping exercise it is hard for me to say whether the judge will recommend an inquiry. As a Minister in this Government, I wish to be clear that we do not object to an inquiry if that is what is recommended in the report, but it is important that we see the report first. The most important point is that I hope we can get the answers this family want and that they can feel somewhat at peace because this has been a very challenging time, almost ten years as the Deputy pointed out. I can only imagine that it must be extremely difficult to lose a loved one in those circumstances. I will do everything I can to ensure that they do get the answers that they want.

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