Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The delays with this inquiry and many other inquiries are impossible to defend. I can only imagine the frustration people experience when these inquiries, which you think will last six months, go on for more than six months and last a year or two years. That is very hard to defend. When we challenge the people carrying out the inquiries as to why this is the case, they often say that the matters involved were more complicated than they thought in the first instance and that things came up that they had to look into. That is very difficult to defend from any point of view.

I understand that the draft report will also be the final report. Essentially, they are the same. However, I could be wrong about that. I am told that the report will be shared with the families in the next few weeks. I appreciate that they will not believe that until it happens, particularly in view of their previous experience.

Once again, I am informed that the human tissue Bill will be before the Cabinet by the end of November. It is long overdue. The proposal for this legislation may even go date as far as the Madden commission under the former Minister for Health, Mary Harney. It is that long ago. The legislation is well overdue, and we need to get it done.

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