Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent Ireland Party)

I wish to remember and acknowledge the late Mark Ryan who with his brother, David, was instrumental in the establishment of the scoping inquiry. There are no words for what has happened here. What was going through my head when I was coming over here is that, in this country, we commemorated 100 years of the troubles that we had. We are looking at this from 1927 to 2013.

When you look at that in context, I do not know where the words are going to come from.

I welcome this commission, I really do. Is it a little too late? Yes, it. Why does it take so long for anything in this country to come before us when wrongdoing has happened? There is inquiry after inquiry, cover-up after cover-up and people suffering. Two decades pass and somebody says something, and then it takes two more decades to happen again. Wrong has been done. How many people have died since this happened? How many people cried for help and were ignored? What scars have been inflicted on the families left behind?

I welcome the fact that inquiries such as this and others get rid of the red tape. When we know that things went wrong, we escalate matters and make sure they are dealt with. We need to start acting today, while those who caused this pain and suffering to others are alive. We cannot wait until they die or until they get too old and nothing can be done. I know the Minister is acting now, and I welcome that. Going forward, no matter what business we do, accountability is needed across the House. If we make a mistake, we have to raise our hands and own up. That goes for every inquiry that happens. There is no point in spending millions upon millions on cover-ups. Hands up and fix the problems. It is unbelievable that we went from 1927 to 2013 and that the commission is only being established in 2025.

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