Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)

In December 2015, Aoife Winterlich, who was 14 years of age, went on a trip organised by Scouting Ireland. They went to Hook Head, where there was no assessment of the risks although it was a very stormy day. There was no guidance, no warning and nobody watching. Aoife was swept out to sea and died. It took eight years and the bringing of a court case for Scouting Ireland to finally acknowledge liability in this circumstance, but the scouts have failed to offer an apology for their failure in their duty of care to Anne Winterlich’s daughter. They have offered an apology for the tragic loss of her daughter but not for their role in the tragic loss of her daughter. I have been in correspondence with the scouts on this. The last response I have says that they want to confirm that an apology has already been offered, which it has not been, and, therefore, they do not anticipate further correspondence. Will the Taoiseach will join me in asking the scouts to apologise and does he agree that we need to have an independent investigation into the circumstances of the death?

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