Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)

It is very difficult for there to be claims when there is no awareness. How could there be claims if people were not aware that these buildings had high levels of asbestos?

How could there be claims? How did they even know? I repeat that the head of the State Claims Agency said that unless remedial work was undertaken, the State Claims Agency would be unable to defend future claims. That leads me to believe there has already been a claim. This report was done by the State Claims Agency, An Garda Síochána and the OPW. Very little has happened and the State has been exposed to claims. Gardaí, contractors and, possibly, members of the public have been exposed, who are not aware and may have been ill. How could they make a claim if they were not aware and did not know they were exposed? Does this not create a huge risk which the Minister needs to put close to the top of his pile as regards issues the Commissioner has not told him about? I read recently that the Minister said he can only ask questions. Perhaps he needs to have a truth and reconciliation meeting with the Commissioner. Perhaps he needs to sit down and say, "Hey, Commissioner, do you know what, you are out the gap on 1 September. Is there anything else in the long list of issues you have not told me about?" Perhaps he should say, "As Minister, I should not have to ask the question." He should tell the Commissioner, "There is a thing called section 41 where you have to tell me things. Maybe you should have told me about this. Maybe this is an exposure of the State. Maybe I should have known. Why has nothing been done in relation to it?" There are many other issues. I guarantee many still have not been brought to the Minister's attention. I encourage the Minister to have that truth and reconciliation meeting very soon. Otherwise, I will be coming to the House on many more issues he is not bloody well aware of.

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