Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

Mr. MacEntee, SC, is one of the most eminent lawyers in this State. He has been noted down through the years for his tenacity in the pursuit of real justice. I have no doubt he made a valiant effort in this case to break through a wall of silence to find the truth, to bring solace to the families whose lives all these years have been a living hell, and to bring some semblance of closure to this case. What is significant about the report is not the questions that have been answered but those which could not be answered because the information was not available or had gone missing. This has been another blow to these families. At this stage I believe they will continue and persist until the truth is found and, if they do not succeed, their children will persist with this. We should engage at all times with those families to help them in whatever they are trying to achieve not only now but in the future.

I do not believe that closure has been brought to this case. I am not in favour of Garda bashing. I have always defended the Garda force on all occasions in this House. We should continue to do that because the vast majority of gardaí have served this State very well. The answers in this case lie elsewhere, not with the gardaí, but in other circles. It is important that we do see this report as being the end of the road. I for one, like many others, will continue to engage with the families who have suffered and try to help them in the future.