Liam Fitzgerald (Fianna Fail)

I am sympathetic to most of what has been said. However, these concerns were elaborated on by the Minister yesterday on Second Stage. She made it clear that the individual applicant's case that will be called will be the one deemed by the committee to be the most representative of what happened at a particular institution. I am happy from what she said yesterday and from her contributions on the Bill in the Lower House that she is all for transparency. I am glad that has been acknowledged by Members.

One can raise too many technical arguments as to what the criteria should be. One could engage with representative survivors' groups as to the widest possible set of criteria. However, given the strong arguments made for the changes the Minister has proposed in the Bill, I believe the criteria she articulated are as good as any. After all the applicants from that institution have been reviewed, if an individual's case is as fair and as widely representative of what happened in a particular institution as one can determine, I believe it will be adequate to meet the requirements and concerns set out.