Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

It is said that justice delayed is justice denied. We would all agree that in the case of victims of abuse in residential institutions, justice has been delayed for a long time. In that context, it would be an aberration if we were to deny people justice on the basis of their failure to meet a designated time constraint. I accept that this is not the Minister's intention, but I am not quite sure whether the difficulty is largely economic or mostly legal. Nor can I quantify the sums of money involved. We are dealing with an exceptional situation and it adds to the trauma for victims if they are to be denied justice on the basis of a failure to adhere to an arbitrary timeframe. Their trauma will continue until they go into the grave. The Minister is an exceptionally compassionate person and I am sure he will give due consideration to this aspect of the situation he is seeking to address.