Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It accepts the Garda version of events again and again. It does not deal with the fact that the PSNI asked for the records and received them from An Garda Síochána but no analysis was done. It does not deal with the fact that a vehicle with no insurance and no NCT which was being driven by a drug addict, with a number of other addicts as passengers, was not seized. The car was waved on. The report does not address the fact that again and again, the will of the courts was not implemented. All of this was just accepted and no hard questions were asked. In politics, we talk about people appearing on television programmes and getting a "soft interview". My God but An Garda Síochána got a soft interview. What a shocking failure. We need to give more powers to GSOC and to radically reform that organisation. That is the lesson from this episode. As it happens, GSOC was not the appropriate body to investigate this case because it is much wider than An Garda Síochána. As I said already, this is a whole of justice system calamity.

The depth of love and grief and the determination and dedication of Lucia and Jim has never left me. That is why we are here today. At the same time, I wonder about all of the other families who have suffered. A lot of people in this country were brought up to believe in those in a uniform, in authority and with an education - our supposed "betters". How many poor families just accepted their lot? How many families, overwhelmed by their grief, just let it go? How many other families never got to have their say? On behalf of this House, I thank Lucia because her battle is not just for her beloved son; it is for all of the families who were failed by our justice system, by An Garda Síochána and by our courts on occasions.

The Minister can smirk all he likes but he has a responsibility to respect the will of our Parliament and Dáil Éireann today, which has given him a democratic mandate to set up a public inquiry into the full circumstances of Shane O'Farrell's death. GSOC has submitted its first report on the case but it must now be put in the hands of a wider public inquiry because this is a whole-of-justice-system failing. It is not just a failing of An Garda Síochána but of the whole system. That is the Minister's responsibility. I totally endorse the comments made by Senator Norris. There was a conflict of interest in relation to the review mechanism. For God's sake, a five year old, never mind an eminent Minister, could see that. There is no point in questioning and challenging Senator Norris on his rightful assertion. This is a calamity from start to finish and the only tenable response is a full public inquiry with all of the participants coming before it, with all of the answers to be found and justice to be done. We must try to ensure that no other family goes through what the O'Farrells have gone through already.