Hildegarde Naughton (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this motion. We all wish this inquiry could have happened sooner, but as legislators we must be aware of the legal constraints and the potential for legal challenges to it.

I would like to address the comment made by the Sinn Féin Senator with regard to the Government being forced into holding this inquiry. That is not the case. The Government introduced the Oireachtas inquiries referendum in 2011, but it was defeated. Following that, further thought had to be put into how we would go about putting forward such an inquiry.