Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The reason I say the decision of the Government to initiate a scoping exercise was in contravention of the wishes of the Dáil is because the Dáil made it clear that there is a need for a public inquiry and yet the Government decided to extend this process even further.

The person who was responsible for the death of Shane O'Farrell is a man named Zigimantas Gridziuska. Nobody is disputing that he has primary responsibility for Mr. O'Farrell's death. Mr. Gridziuska should have been in jail at the time. When Mr. O'Farrell was killed, Mr. Gridziuska had committed 30 offences while on bail. He had ignored court orders and conditions from both District and Circuit Courts again and again. He was subject to several arrests and a number of bail conditions that were supposed to be upheld but none of them was. These are serious questions.

Of course, the primary people asking those questions are Shane O'Farrell's family because they want the truth about how this man was at large and able to kill their son when he should have been in jail. There are also public interest questions. The wider public deserve answers to these questions as well.

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