Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

To refresh my memory, I have read everything the Minister ever said in regard to this matter, so I know what commitments he made. Second, he did meet with the group, but he did not take on board what was said. Two months passed, and he did not take on board what was said. He just commenced the tribunal without addressing the main issues. One or two of the smaller issues have been addressed since.

I do not know why the Minister made a commitment on 26 October, having signed an order on 23 October, without rescinding it, for the tribunal to commence on 27 October. The Minister's excuse here is just not believable. It just does not help for a Minister to sign an order on the 23rd for the tribunal to commence on the 27th but to meet a group and tell it on the 26th that it was being postponed.

The Minister knows the main issues. They relate to the State Claims Agency joining as defendants and the Statute of Limitations. The most significant issue that the 221+ group wants sorted is the provision whereby a woman can return to the tribunal if she suffers a recurrence of cancer. They are the three outstanding issues. They have always been the three outstanding issues. I have discussed them with the Minister. There are solutions. I have even produced a Bill and sent it to the Minister, which, amazingly, his private secretary asked me for again last week even though I had sent it to her with a briefing note. When, this week, will the Minister give the assurances the 221+ group needs? Otherwise, the members of the group are going to ask publicly that people do not engage with the tribunal. The Minister and I do not want that.

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