Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to again extend my sincere sympathy to the O'Farrell family on the extremely sad loss of their beloved son and brother, Shane. Suaimhneas síoraí dá anam dílis. The O'Farrell family has campaigned and continues to campaign tirelessly and with the utmost grace and dignity, seeking justice for their son and brother. They have asked legitimate questions and those questions have not been answered. We debated this serious issue in this House in 2018 and subsequently the scoping inquiry was established. Shane died following a fatal road traffic accident in County Monaghan in August 2011. He was killed in that hit and run by Mr. Gridziuska, a man who had 42 previous convictions, who was on bail in respect of several offences and who had breached the conditions of his bail. That man should not have been at liberty, to say the least. Instead he was driving a vehicle that was involved in a hit and run, resulting in the death of a fine young man.

It is practically incredible to think of the litany of his offences and the number of times he was before our courts. On 11 January 2011 he was in Monaghan Circuit Court. On 9 May 2011 he was in Monaghan Circuit Court again. Two days later he was in Dundalk Circuit Court. On 8 June, a few weeks later, he was in Carrickmacross District Court. On 14 July 2011 he was convicted of theft in Newry, and brought back before Monaghan Circuit Court. On 25 July 2011 he was convicted of having no tax disc in Monaghan District Court. All of the above offences should have resulted in that man's bail being revoked but no steps were taken by the Garda to ensure that happened. He was well-known to An Garda Síochána, Interpol and the PSNI. His record was an extensive one of criminality, with more than 40 previous convictions for a variety of offences. No matter how we debate these issues, and no matter at what length, there is a fundamental question that the scoping report does not answer. That question is how the person who killed Shane was at large on 2 August.

Shane was not responsible for his death. Speeding offences are not trivial. The least the O'Farrell family deserves is to get the truth on how there was such a litany of dereliction of duty on behalf of State agencies and officials regarding the man who drove that vehicle that caused Shane's death being at large on that day. Those questions have not been answered in any respect in the scoping report.

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